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LAST GAME
Thursday, November 5
Tampa Bay 4 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Eichel
Goalie: Ullmark (8 saves/11 shots); Johnson (10 saves/10 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 0/2; PK: 3/3; Shots: Buffalo 31 – Tampa Bay 22
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 59)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 13 games
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 13 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10) – 12 games
Evander Kane (MCL, Oct. 27; injured reserve) – 5 games
Carlo Colaiacovo (upper body, Nov. 5) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Nov. 10: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 12: Buffalo at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 14: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 17: Dallas at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 19: Buffalo at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
CANUCKS at SABRES
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Vancouver, 6-3, in Buffalo on Feb. 26
- Next meeting: Monday, Dec. 7 in Vancouver
- The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Canucks; 7-3-0 at home.
- This is the 115th game all-time between Buffalo and Vancouver; Buffalo has a 47-48-19 series record.
- The Sabres are 30-19-8 at home against the Canucks all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 6-12-3 all-time on November 7.
- November 7, 1981: John Van Boxmeer records five points (3+2) in a 6-2 win at NYI. Van Boxmeer shares the record for most points recorded in a single game by a Sabres defenseman with Phil Housley.
- November 7, 1986: Gilbert Perreault scores the last two goals of his NHL career in a 7-6 loss vs. VAN. Perreault’s 512 goals as a member of the Sabres still stand as the franchise record, 130 more than the next closest player (Rick Martin-382).
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Today’s game is the third of 11 afternoon games for the Sabres this season; the next will be on Saturday, Dec. 19 against Chicago at 1 p.m. at First Niagara Center.
- The Sabres have won four of their last five home games against the Canucks, scoring at least four goals in each of the wins.
- Jack Eichel was tied for second among all rookies with five goals and led all rookie forwards with an 18:54 average ice time per game before Friday night’s games.
- If Linus Ullmark starts today’s game, he will be the first Sabres goaltender to start four consecutive games in his first NHL season since Ryan Miller did so from April 8 to 16, 2006.
- Three Sabres rank in the top 15 among all NHL forwards in average time on ice through Thursday’s games: Ryan O’Reilly (1st, 21:29), Evander Kane (11th, 20:18) and Tyler Ennis (15th, 20:09)
MILITARY APPRECIATION
Today’s game is the Sabres’ annual Military Appreciation Game. Some details about today’s festivities:
- As a salute to the military, Sabres players will wear special camouflage jerseys during warm-ups. The jerseys will be auctioned on auctions.nhl.com until Nov. 15 at 9 p.m., and proceeds will benefit the Buffalo Sabres Foundation.
- Members of the Buffalo Sabres Sled Vets, a sled hockey team composed exclusively of military veterans, will be on the ice for anthems and to take part in a ceremonial puck drop. Following the game, the Sabres Sled Vets will play a sled hockey game against the Ohio Warriors, a military veterans team based out of Columbus, Ohio.
- During the game, Sabres captain Brian Gionta will be hosting veterans in his suite for the game. Matt Moulson and Mike Weber will host troops in their four 100 Level seats and the troops will be honored on the video board during the game as a part of the team’s full-season Tickets for Troops program.
HOT AT HOME
- Jack Eichel has scored all five of his NHL goals at First Niagara Center, including a goal in each of the team’s last three home games. Eichel was tied for third in home goals entering play Friday, trailing only Tyler Toffoli (7) and Jarome Iginla (6).
- Entering Friday’s games, Ryan O’Reilly was tied for third in the league with nine points (4+5) in eight home games this season, trailing only Patrick Kane (14) and Taylor Hall (11). O’Reilly has totaled seven points (3+4) in his last four home games.
QUICK DRAW McGRAW
Entering Friday night’s games, Ryan O’Reilly was ranked fourth in the league in faceoff percentage (59.4%). O’Reilly ranked fifth in the league with 308 faceoffs taken, accounting for 39.5% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 10 of their first 13 games this season, posting a 4-6-0 record in those games. Last season, the Sabres hadn’t outshot their opponents 10 times until their 78th game and finished the season 5-5-0 in 10 total games when outshooting their opponent.
POSSESSION PROGRESSION
- The Sabres have led their opponent in even-strength shot attempts (corsi) in seven of the team’s 13 games this season, going 3-4-0 in those games. (Data courtesy of war-on-ice.com)
- Buffalo finished the 2014-15 season with a 3-5-0 record in the eight games in which they recorded more shot attempts than their opponent.
- Before Friday night’s games, the Sabres ranked sixth in the league with a corsi for percentage of 52.5%. Buffalo finished last season with a CF% of 37.5%. The Sabres last finished a season with a CF% of more than 50% in 2010-11 (50.4%).
BUF-VAN CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Ryan Miller spent parts of 11 seasons as a member of the Sabres from 2002-2014. Drafted by Buffalo in the fifth round of the 1999 NHL Draft (138th overall), Miller compiled a record of 284-186-56 over a total of 541 games, earning franchise-record totals in games played and wins.
- Though he never played for Buffalo, Alex Biega was drafted by the Sabres in the fifth round (147th overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft. He posted 66 points (13+53) and a plus-24 rating in 198 games for the Portland Pirates and Rochester Americans (AHL) while he was a part of the Sabres’ organization.
Dan Bylsma:
- Coached Brandon Sutter for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2012-2014.
Zach Bogosian:
- Played with Chris Higgins for the United States at the 2009 World Championship.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- He and Christopher Tanev were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
- Played with Adam Cracknell for the St. Louis Blues from 2010-2012 and again during the 2013-14 season. Ryan Miller was also a part of the team during the 2013-14 season.
Tyler Ennis:
- Played with Derek Dorsett for the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) from 2005-2007.
- Represented Team Canada alongside Dan Hamhuis at the 2015 World Championship.
Cody Franson:
- Played with Dan Hamhuis for the Nashville Predators during the 2009-10 season.
Brian Gionta:
- Played with Yannick Weber for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2013.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Chris Higgins for the Montreal Canadiens from 2007-2009.
- Teammates with Yannick Weber for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2013.
Chad Johnson:
- Teammates with Matt Bartkowski for the Boston Bruins during the 2013-14 season.
David Legwand:
- Played with Dan Hamhuis for the Nashville Predators from 2003-2010.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Represented Canada alongside Alexandre Burrows at the 2012 World Championship.
Sam Reinhart:
- Represented Canada alongside Bo Horvat at the 2014 World Junior Championship.
Mike Weber:
- He and Matt Bartkowski were both born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
NHL Draft:
- Carlo Colaiacovo (17th overall) and Dan Hamhuis (12th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2001 NHL Draft. They also played together for Team Canada at the 2002 World Junior Championship.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Brendan Gaunce (26th overall) were both first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Bo Horvat (9th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall), and Jake Virtanen (6th overall) and Jared McCann (24th overall) were all taken in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (31), McGinn (30), Foligno (26)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (33), Ristolainen (23), Colaiacovo/McCabe/Pysyk (11)
Shots: Eichel (48), Ennis/O’Reilly/Ristolianen (33)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 3-7-0 (6), 23/32, 9/35, 19/27
11-20: 2-1-0 (4), 6/6, 1/8, 7/7
OVERTIME RESULTS (1-0; 99-101 all-time)
Oct. 27 at PHI: W, 4-3 (GWG-Girgensons)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 66-51 all-time)
Oct. 21 vs. TOR: W, 2-1 (GDG-Moulson)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 6 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Josh Gorges … 9 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
