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LAST GAME
Friday, November 27
Carolina 1 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Gorges, Eichel, Gionta, Legwand
Goalie: Johnson (27 saves/28 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 2/2; Shots: Carolina 28 – Buffalo 21
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 110)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 23 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10; injured reserve) – 22 games
Mike Weber (knee, Nov. 10) – 9 games
Mark Pysyk (bone bruise, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 5 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Nov. 25; injured reserve) – 2 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/22: Placed F Zemgus Girgensons on IR (retroactive to 11/14)
11/25: Activated F Zemgus Girgensons from IR; placed D Mark Pysyk on IR (retroactive to 11/17)
11/27: Activated D Mike Weber from IR; Placed F Tyler Ennis on IR (retroactive to 11/25)
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Dec. 1: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 4: Arizona at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6: Buffalo at Edmonton, 8 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 7: Buffalo at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 10: Buffalo at Calgary, 9 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at PREDATORS
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Predators this season.
- Last meeting: Nashville defeated Buffalo, 3-2, in Buffalo on November 28
- The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Predators; 6-4-0 on the road.
- This is the 21st game all-time between Buffalo and Nashville; Buffalo has a 7-10-3 series record.
- The Sabres are 6-4-0 on the road against the Predators all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 14-4-2 all-time on November 28.
- November 28, 1972: Gilbert Perreault scores two goals and adds an assist as the Sabres beat the New York Islanders, 7-2, to start a 10-game unbeaten streak in games played on November 28.
- November 28, 2009: Tyler Myers records his first career three-point game, assisting on three of Buffalo’s five third-period goals to propel the Sabres to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are looking to snap a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) against Nashville and a two-game road losing streak against the Predators.
- Buffalo’s last win against Nashville was a 3-2 victory in Nashville on Dec. 3, 2011.
- Josh Gorges has a point in consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 27 and March 1, 2014 entering tonight’s game. A point tonight would give him his first three-game point streak since Oct. 12 to 17, 2013 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
- Jack Eichel scored his eighth goal of the season last night vs. Carolina, tying the rookie goal lead as of the conclusion of the game.
- Ryan O’Reilly (21:39) leads all NHL forwards in average ice time per game.
PREYING ON THE PREDATORS
- Evander Kane enters tonight’s matchup on a five-game point streak (1+4) against Nashville.
- Ryan O’Reilly has logged a point in each of his last four games against the Predators (1+3).
- Cody Franson tallied an assist in both of games against the Predators last season.
- Chad Johnson logged his first NHL shutout in his only previous start against the Predators (Jan. 28, 2013). He also stopped all 12 shots faced in relief against Nashville on Nov. 25.
STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE
- 10 NHL skaters have played at least 20 games without taking a penalty this season. The Sabres are the only team with two players among these 10: Rasmus Ristolainen and Johan Larsson
- Both Ristolainen (33 games) and Larsson (25 games) are on the longest penalty-free streaks of their careers.
- Ristolainen averages 23:56 of ice time per game. Only two other players with an average above 20 minutes per game have zero penalty minutes this season: Loui Eriksson and Morgan Rielly
- Ristolainen is one of just four NHL defensemen (Brian Dumoulin, Morgan Rielly, Matt Tennyson) with at least 15 games played and no penalty minutes.
(All stats as of the end of last night’s game vs. Carolina)
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game concludes Buffalo’s third of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began last night with a 4-1 win vs. Carolina. The Sabres are 1-2-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-1-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (0), three points (0), two points (2), one point (0) and zero points (1).
FINNISHING TOUCH
- After last night’s win vs. Carolina, Rasmus Ristolainen ranked in the top 15 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-9th, 4), assists (T-13th, 10), points (T-10th, 14) and multi-point games (T-6th, 4). No Sabres defenseman has finished a season with five or more multi-point games since Christian Ehrhoff (six) in 2011-12.
- With 14 points (4+10) in 23 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 50 points this season. If he were to reach the 50-point mark, Ristolainen would be the first Sabres defenseman with 50 points in a season since Garry Galley (1995-96) and the youngest to reach that mark since Phil Housley.
QUICK DRAW McGRAW
Following last night’s game, Ryan O’Reilly (58.6%) was ranked fifth in the league in faceoff percentage. O’Reilly also ranked fourth in the league with 541 faceoffs taken, accounting for 40.2% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 12 of their first 23 games this season, posting a 4-7-1 record in those games. Last season, the team 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 10 of the team’s 23 games this season, going 3-6-1 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.
(Data courtesy of war-on-ice.com)
BUF-NSH CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Paul Gaustad spent the better part of eight seasons as a member of the Sabres from 2002-2012. Buffalo’s seventh-round choice (220th overall) in the 2000 NHL Draft, Gaustad recorded 181 points (71+110) over a span of 479 games in a Sabres uniform. He was dealt to Nashville on Feb. 27, 2012, along with a fourth-round draft pick in 2013 in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 2012 (Zemgus Girgensons).
- Cody Hodgson played for the Sabres from 2012 to 2015, amassing 99 points (44+55) in 218 games for Buffalo.
Former Predators:
- David Legwand was the first-ever Nashville Predators draft pick, taken in the first round (No. 2 overall) in the 1998 NHL Draft. Legwand played for Nashville from 1998-2014 and is the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (956), goals (210), assists (356) and points (566).
- Cody Franson was drafted by the Predators in the third round (79th overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft and went on to have 54 points (15+39) in 164 games for Nashville from 2009-2011 and in 2014-15.
Dan Bylsma:
- Coached James Neal for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2010-2014.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- He and Cody Hodgson are both from Toronto, Ontario.
- Played with Barret Jackman for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2012 and again during the 2013-14 season.
- Represented Canada alongside James Neal at the 2011 World Championship.
Jack Eichel:
- Teammates with Seth Jones for the United States at the 2015 World Championship.
Tyler Ennis:
- Played with Ryan Ellis and Cody Hodgson for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
Marcus Foligno:
- Represented Team Canada alongside Ryan Ellis at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.
Cody Franson:
- He and Shea Weber were both born in Sicamous, British Columbia.
- Represented Canada alongside James Neal at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Shea Weber for the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) from 2001-2004.
Johan Larsson:
- Represented Team Sweden alongside Calle Jarnkrok at the 2009 World U-18 Championship, the 2011 World Junior Championship and the 2012 World Championship. Larsson (56th overall) and Jarnkrok (51st overall) were also both taken in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
Evander Kane:
- Played with Ryan Ellis and Cody Hodgson for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
- Represented Canada alongside James Neal at the 2011 World Championship.
Jake McCabe:
- Represented the United States alongside Seth Jones and Craig Smith at the 2014 World Championship.
NHL Draft:
- Zach Bogosian (3rd overall), Tyler Ennis (26th overall), Colin Wilson (7th overall) and Cody Hodgson (10th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
- Evander Kane (4th overall) and Ryan Ellis (11th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Marcus Foligno (104th overall) was chosen two picks after Mattias Ekholm (102nd overall) and six picks after Craig Smith (98th overall) in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Mary Pysyk (23rd overall) and Austin Watson (18th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Filip Forsberg (11th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Seth Jones (4th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (63), McGinn (52), Foligno (50)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (61), Ristolainen (38), McCabe (26)
Shots: Eichel (79), Ristolainen (60), O’Reilly (57)
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: 5-3-2 (12), 21/21, 5/27, 23/29
21-30: 1-2-0 (2), 7/6, 0/6, 5/5
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 … 3 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 3 goals … 100 career goals
Tyler Ennis … 8 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 5 assists … 100 career assists
Josh Gorges … 7 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
