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LAST GAME
Thursday, November 19
Buffalo 2 at St. Louis 3 (SO)
Goals: Reinhart, O’Reilly
Goalie: Ullmark (27 saves/29 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 1/3; Shots: Buffalo 34 – St. Louis 29
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 89)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 19 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10; injured reserve) – 18 games
Mike Weber (knee, Nov. 10; injured reserve) – 5 games
Zemgus Girgensons (upper body, Nov. 17) – 2 games
Mark Pysyk (lower body, Nov. 19) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/17: Activated D Zach Bogosian from IR; placed D Mike Weber on IR
10/19: Activated F Evander Kane from IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Nov. 23: St. Louis at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 25: Nashville at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 27: Carolina at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 28: Buffalo at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 1: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at STARS
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Stars this season.
- Last meeting: Dallas defeated Buffalo, 3-1, in Buffalo on Nov. 17
- The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Stars; 3-7-0 on the road.
- This is the 118th game all-time between Buffalo and Dallas; Buffalo has a 55-45-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 23-30-6 on the road against the Stars all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 7-11-1 all-time on November 21.
- November 21, 1981: Jim Schoenfeld and Yvon Lambert each score two goals and Don Edwards makes 28 saves in a 7-1 Sabres victory at Los Angeles.
- November 21, 2003: Mika Noronen stops 35 Carolina shots to earn his third career shutout in a 5-0 win against the Hurricanes.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Buffalo enters tonight’s game on its first four-game road point streak (3-0-1) since February. A win or overtime loss tonight would give the Sabres points in five straight road games for the first time since March 10 to 27, 2012 (4-0-1).
- The Sabres need a win tonight to avoid losing four straight games in Dallas for the first time since Oct. 24, 1995 to Oct. 10, 1998.
- Ryan O’Reilly has scored a goal in each of the Sabres’ last three games, tying the longest goal of his career. O’Reilly has tallied 21 points (5+16) in his last 21 road games dating back to last season.
- O’Reilly (21:42) led all NHL forwards in ice time per game entering Friday’s games. His 22:18 average time on ice per game since Oct. 29 is the highest 10-game average of his career.
HOT AGAINST DALLAS
- Matt Moulson has 14 points (8+6) in his last 10 games against the Stars dating back to Jan. 8 2010, including at least a point in each of his five.
- Tyler Ennis has points in each of his last five games against the Stars, totaling seven points (3+4) in those five games.
- Ryan O’Reilly has at least a point in each of his last four games against Dallas, totaling five points (2+3).
- David Legwand has 13 points (4+9) in his last 14 games against Dallas dating back to Feb. 26, 2011.
NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN
The Sabres and Stars are meeting for the second time in four days after Dallas’s win in Buffalo on Tuesday. For the Sabres, this is the third of eight sets of games this season in which they’ll face the same opponent both home and away in a three-game span; two of these are home-and-home series. They are also still in the midst of the fourth such set (Nov. 19 and 23 against St. Louis). The next set will take place on Nov. 25 and 28 against Nashville.
SABRES GOALIES HEATING UP
- Linus Ullmark has gone 2-1-1 in his last four games with a .939 save percentage and a 1.97 goals-against average.
- Chad Johnson has gone 1-0-1 in his last three appearances, logging a .959 save percentage and a 1.11 goals-against average.
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT
Chad Johnson had stopped 70 consecutive shots at even strength before allowing Patrick Marleau’s overtime goal on Nov. 14 at three-on-three. Johnson still has not allowed a five-on-five goal in his last 191:51 of ice time (all situations), including 156:47 played at five-on-five.
FINNISHING TOUCH
Entering play Friday, Rasmus Ristolainen was tied for seventh among NHL defensemen with four goals and tied for fourth among NHL defensemen with four multi-point games this season. No Sabres defenseman has finished a season with five or more multi-point games since Christian Ehrhoff (six) in 2011-12.
QUICK DRAW McGRAW
Entering Wednesday night’s games, Ryan O’Reilly (58.8%) was ranked third in the league in faceoff percentage, trailing only Jonathan Toews (60.9%) and Claude Giroux (60.4%). O’Reilly also ranked sixth in the league with 452 faceoffs taken, accounting for 40.0% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER
The Sabres are 14-for-62 (22.6%) on the power play this season, tied for third-best in the league before Friday’s games. The Sabres last finished a season above 20 percent on the power play in 2008-09 (21.0%).
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 11 of their first 19 games this season, posting a 4-6-1 record in those games. Last season, the 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 nine of the team’s 19 games this season, going 3-5-1 in those games.
- Buffalo only led their opponents in even-strength shot attempts eight times throughout the entire 2014-15 season, going 3-5-0 in those eight games.
- Before Friday night’s games, the Sabres ranked 12th in the league with a corsi for percentage of 49.9%. 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%).
(Data courtesy of war-on-ice.com)
BUF-DAL CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Lindy Ruff served as head coach of the Sabres for 14-plus seasons (1997-2013), compiling a record of 571-432-162 in 1,165 games. Ruff is the Sabres’ all-time franchise leader in wins, guiding the team to eight postseason appearances, including a trip to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. He was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2006. Ruff also played for the Sabres from 1979-89, appearing in 608 games, recording 285 points (102+183) and serving as team captain for three seasons.
- James Patrick spent seven seasons (2006-2013) as an assistant coach for the Sabres. He also spent six seasons with the Sabres as a player (1998-2004) and registered 74 points (23+51) in 345 games.
Dan Bylsma:
- Coached Alex Goligoski for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2008-2011.
Zach Bogosian:
- Teammates with Kari Lehtonen for the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2008-09 season.
- Played with Johnny Oduya for the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets from 2009-2012.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Colaiacovo, Jason Spezza and Jamie Oleksiak were all born in Toronto, Ontario.
- He and Jason Spezza were teammates for Canada at the 2002 World Junior Championship and the 2011 World Championship.
- Played with Patrick Eaves for the Detroit Red Wings during the 2012-13 season.
Tyler Ennis:
- Ennis and Vernon Fiddler were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.
- Teammates with Cody Eakin, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship.
Marcus Foligno:
- Played with Cody Eakin for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship that was held in Buffalo, N.Y.
Brian Gionta:
- He and Johnny Oduya both played for the New Jersey Devils from 2006-2009.
Josh Gorges:
- Teammates with Vernon Fiddler for the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) for part of the 2000-01 season.
Johan Larsson:
- Represented Sweden alongside John Klingberg at the 2011 World Junior Championship.
David Legwand:
- Teammates with Vernon Fiddler for the Nashville Predators from 2002-2009.
Jamie McGinn:
- Played with Jason Demers for the San Jose Sharks from 2009-2012. Antti Niemi was also a part of the team from 2010-2012.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Teammates with Cody Eakin for Team Canada at the 2009 World U18 Championship and the 2015 World Championship. Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza were also on the 2015 World Championship squad.
- Played with Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp for Team Canada at the 2012 World Championship.
2009 World Junior Championship:
- Tyler Ennis and Jamie Benn won the goal medal with Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
NHL Draft:
- Carlo Colaiacovo (17th overall), Jason Spezza (2nd overall) and Ales Hemsky (13th overall) were all taken in the first round of the 2001 NHL Draft.
- Nicolas Deslauriers and Cody Eakin were both selected in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Deslauriers was taken 84th overall by Los Angeles, and Eakin was selected one pick later at 85th overall by Washington.
- Tyler Seguin (2nd overall) and Mark Pysyk (23rd overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Valeri Nichuskin (10th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (48), McGinn (46), Foligno (42)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (47), Ristolainen (34), McCabe (19)
Shots: Eichel (64), O’Reilly (54), Ristolainen (52)
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: 5-2-2 (12), 21/18, 5/24, 19/24
OVERTIME RESULTS (1-1; 99-102 all-time)
Oct. 27 at PHI: W, 4-3 (GWG-Girgensons)
Nov. 14 vs. SJS: L, 2-1 (GWG-Marleau)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-1; 66-52 all-time)
Oct. 21 vs. TOR: W, 2-1 (GDG-Moulson)
Nov. 19 at STL: L, 3-2 (GDG-Steen)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Matt Moulson … 7 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 3 goals … 100 career goals
Tyler Ennis … 8 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 6 assists … 100 career assists
Josh Gorges … 8 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
