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LAST GAME
Sunday, December 6
Buffalo 2 at Edmonton 4
Goals: Eichel, O’Reilly
Goalie: Johnson (24 saves/28 shots)
PP: 1/4; PK: 0/1; Shots: Buffalo 34 – Edmonton 28
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 130)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 27 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10; injured reserve) – 26 games
Mike Weber (knee, Nov. 10) – 13 games
Mark Pysyk (bone bruise, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 9 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Nov. 25; injured reserve) – 6 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/3: Assigned F Tim Schaller to Rochester (AHL)
12/5: Recalled F Cal O’Reilly from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Dec. 10: Buffalo at Calgary, 9 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12: Los Angeles at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 14: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 15: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 17: Anaheim at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CANUCKS
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Vancouver, 3-2, in Buffalo on Nov. 7
- The Sabres are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Canucks; 2-7-1 on the road.
- This is the 116th game all-time between Buffalo and Vancouver; Buffalo has a 48-48-19 series record.
- The Sabres are 17-29-11 on the road against the Canucks all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 5-12-4 all-time on December 7.
- December 7, 2002: The Sabres record the 1,200th win in franchise history on a game-winning goal from Adam Mair, as they defeat the Washington Capitals, 4-3, at home.
- December 7, 2010: Luke Adam scores his first NHL goal in a 3-2 overtime loss at Boston.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Tonight’s game is the second in a three-game western swing that began last night in Edmonton. The team will visit Calgary for a matchup with the Flames on Thursday before returning home to face the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
- A win tonight would give Buffalo its first three-game winning streak against Vancouver since Jan. 15, 1998 to Feb. 28, 1999.
- David Legwand leads all Sabres with 26 points (11+15) in 53 career games against the Canucks.
- Rasmus Ristolainen recorded his only career two-goal game on Nov. 7, 2015 against Vancouver.
- Ryan O’Reilly (21:51) leads all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:06) ranks third. O’Reilly skated a career-high 26:14 on Tuesday at Detroit.
WHO’S HOT?
- Jamie McGinn is currently riding a five-game point streak (2+4), tying his career-long streak that was previously set from March 12 to 19, 2014 (3+4).
- Rasmus Ristolainen tied his single game high in assists and points (0+3) on Tuesday at Detroit. Ristolainen has 13 points (3+10) in his last 14 games.
- Evander Kane has seven points (5+2) in his last six games.
- Ryan O’Reilly has six points (2+4) in his last six games.
- Brian Gionta has four points (1+3) in his last two games against the Canucks.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game concludes Buffalo’s fourth of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began last night with a 4-2 loss in Edmonton. The Sabres are 1-3-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 2-1-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (1), one point (0) and zero points (1).
FAMILY TIES
- With Cal O’Reilly’s recall from the Rochester Americans, he and Ryan O’Reilly have a chance to become the second pair of brothers ever to play for the Sabres at the same time. The other pair, Bob and J.F. Sauve, played together from 1980-81 to 1982-83.
- The Sabres have had three other pairs of siblings who both played for the team, but never in the same season: Randy and Mike Moller, James and Steve Patrick, Darryl and Darrin Shannon
YOUNG GUNS
- With a combined 16 goals through Buffalo’s first 27 games, Jack Eichel (9) and Sam Reinhart (7) are currently on pace to become the second pair of rookies in Sabres history to each record 20 goals in the same season. The other pair was Danny Gare (31) and Peter McNab (22) in 1974-75.
- If they maintain their current pace, Eichel (9+5) and Reinhart (7+3) would also be the first pair of Sabres rookies to surpass the 30-point mark since Thomas Vanek (48) and Jason Pominville (30) did so in 2005-06.
FINNISHING TOUCH
- Rasmus Ristolainen ranks in the top 16 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-16th, 4), assists (T-8th, 14), points (T-9th, 18), shots (T-13th, 67) and multi-point games (T-5th, 5). He is the first Sabres defenseman to record five or more multi-point games in a season since Christian Ehrhoff had six in 2011-12.
- With 18 points (4+14) in 27 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 55 points this season. If he reaches 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.
STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE
- Of the 471 NHL players who have played at least 20 games this season, only eight have zero penalty minutes. Rasmus Ristolainen is one of those eight players.
- Ristolainen (37 games) is on the longest penalty-free streak of his career.
- Ristolainen averages 24:10 of ice time per game. He the only NHL player with an average above 20 minutes per game and zero penalty minutes this season.
- Ristolainen is one of just three NHL defensemen (Brian Dumoulin, Matt Tennyson) with at least 20 games played and no penalty minutes.
QUICK DRAW McGRAW
- Ryan O’Reilly (59.1%) is ranked fourth in the league in faceoff percentage. O’Reilly also ranks second in the league with 657 faceoffs taken, accounting for 40.6% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
- O’Reilly’s 67.0% win percentage on the power play (77-for-115) ranks first in the league among all players with at least 50 power-play faceoffs taken. He has taken 69.7% of Buffalo’s power-play faceoffs.
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER
- The Sabres are 19-for-86 (22.1%) on the power play this season, ranked sixth in the league. Buffalo 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 14 of their first 27 games this season, posting a 5-8-1 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 11 of the team’s 27 games this season, going 4-6-1 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-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 540 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.
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.
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. Brandon Prust was also a part of the team from 2012-2014.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Chris Higgins for the Montreal Canadiens from 2007-2009.
- Teammates with Yannick Weber for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2013.
- Played with Brandon Prust for the Montreal Canadiens from 2012-2014.
Chad Johnson:
- Played with Brandon Prust for the New York Rangers from 2009-2011.
- 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.
- Zach Bogosian and Luca Sbisa were both selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Bogosian went third overall to Atlanta and Sbisa was selected by Philadelphia 19th overall.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Bo Horvat (9th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd 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 (69), McGinn (60), Foligno/Gorges (56)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (69), Ristolainen (44), McCabe (29)
Shots: Eichel (90), Ristolainen (67), O’Reilly (66)
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: 3-3-1 (7), 22/18, 5/21, 13/15
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 (1-2; 66-53 all-time)
Oct. 21 vs. TOR: W, 2-1 (GDG-Moulson)
Nov. 19 at STL: L, 3-2 (GDG-Steen)
Dec. 1 at DET: L, 5-4 (GDG-Richards)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Jamie McGinn … 7 games … 400 career games played
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 1 goal … 100 career goals
Tyler Ennis … 8 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 4 assists … 100 career assists
Josh Gorges … 6 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
Matt Moulson … 500th NHL game … Dec. 4 vs. ARI
