GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Saturday, December 12
Los Angeles 1 at Buffalo 2 (OT)
Goals: McGinn, O’Reilly
Goalie: Ullmark (20 saves/21 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 0/0; Shots: Buffalo 30 – Los Angeles 21
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 142)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 30 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10; injured reserve) – 29 games
Mark Pysyk (bone bruise, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 12 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Nov. 25; injured reserve) – 9 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Dec. 15: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 17: Anaheim at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 19: Chicago at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 26: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 28: Washington at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at RED WINGS
- This is the second of five meetings between the Sabres and Red Wings this season.
- Last meeting: Detroit defeated Buffalo, 5-4 (SO), in Detroit on Dec. 1
- Next meeting: Saturday, Jan. 2 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Red Wings; 1-7-2 on the road.
- This is the 126th game all-time between Buffalo and Detroit; Buffalo has a 54-54-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 19-37-8 on the road against the Red Wings all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-6-4 all-time on December 14.
- December 14, 2005: Martin Biron stopped 32 shots in a 4-3 win against the Dallas Stars, winning his 11th consecutive start. Biron would post wins in each of his next two starts, bringing his streak to 13 straight wins in games he started.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are looking for their first win in Detroit since Oct. 13, 2006, hoping to snap a four-game losing streak to the Red Wings and an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2) in Detroit.
- With a win or overtime loss tonight, the Sabres would have points in four straight divisional road games for the first time since they had points in six straight from Dec. 4, 2010 to March 10, 2011.
- Matt Moulson has 10 points (5+5) in his last 10 games against the Red Wings.
- Evander Kane has tallied six points (2+4) in his last five games against Detroit.
- Rasmus Ristolainen had three assists when these teams last met on Dec. 1.
- Ryan O’Reilly (21:51) leads all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:10) ranks third.
- The Sabres are 8-for-23 (34.8%) on the power play in their last seven games.
- Rasmus Ristolainen has 17 points (6+17) in his last 17 games.
THE O’REILLY FACTOR
- Ryan O’Reilly has 11 points (3+8) in his last nine games, including at least a point in each of his last seven.
- The seven-game point streak is O’Reilly’s longest of the season and his longest since a career-best eight game point streak from March 14 to 30, 2015.
- It is the second-longest active point streak in the NHL. With a point tonight, O’Reilly would tie for the fifth longest streak in the league this season.
- With 27 points (10+17) in the team’s first 30 games of the season, he has topped his previous best career point total through 30 games (21 points, 2011-12).
FINNISHING TOUCH
- Entering play Sunday, Rasmus Ristolainen ranked in the top 10 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-5th, 7), assists (T-7th, 15), points (T-5th, 22), shots (T-7th, 77) and multi-point games (T-4th, 6).
- Ristolainen is the first Sabres defenseman to record five or more multi-point games in a season since Christian Ehrhoff had six in 2011-12. Jordan Leopold (2010-11) was the last Sabres defenseman to record seven multi-point games.
- With 22 points (7+15) in 30 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 60 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.
- If he reaches the 60-point mark, he would be the first Sabres defenseman to do so since Phil Housley recorded 81 in the 1989-90 season.
YOUNG GUNS
- With a combined 17 goals through Buffalo’s first 30 games, Jack Eichel (9) and Sam Reinhart (8) 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 (8+4) 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.
STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE
- Of the 496 NHL players who have played at least 20 games this season, only seven have zero penalty minutes. Rasmus Ristolainen is one of those seven players.
- Ristolainen (40 games) is on the longest penalty-free streak of his career.
- Ristolainen averages 24:20 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.
(Stats as of 12/13)
QUICK DRAW McGRAW
- Ryan O’Reilly (58.6%) was ranked fourth in the league in faceoff percentage before Sunday’s games. O’Reilly ranked first in the league with 740 faceoffs taken, accounting for 41.2% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
- O’Reilly’s 67.8% win percentage on the power play (82-for-121) ranks first in the league among all players with at least 50 power-play faceoffs taken. He has taken 69.1% of Buffalo’s power-play faceoffs.
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
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER
The Sabres are 22-for-94 (23.4%) on the power play this season, ranked second in the league entering play Sunday. 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 16 of their first 30 games this season, posting a 6-9-1 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 13 of the team’s 30 games this season, going 5-7-1 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-DET CONNECTIONS
Former Red Wings:
- Dave Barr played more games for Detroit than any other team during his 13-year NHL career. He finished his tenure with the Red Wings with 200 points (82+118) in 293 games.
- Terry Murray played one season for the Red Wings, totaling seven assists and 10 penalty minutes in 23 games during the 1976-77 campaign.
- Carlo Colaiacovo played for the Red Wings during the 2012-13 season and posted one assist in six games.
- David Legwand had 11 points (4+7) in 21 games for the Red Wings during the 2013-14 season.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- He and Brendan Smith were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
Jack Eichel:
- Played with Dylan Larkin for the United States at the 2015 World Junior Championship and World Championship.
Cody Franson:
- Played with Darren Helm for Team Canada at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
Johan Larsson:
- Played with Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg and Jonathan Ericsson for Sweden at the 2012 World Championship.
David Legwand:
- He and Danny Dekeyser were both born in Detroit.
Jake McCabe:
- Played with Justin Adbelkader and Danny DeKeyser for the United States at the 2014 World Championship.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Played with Teemu Pulkkinen for Team Finland at the 2012 World Junior Championship.
Local Players:
- Riley Sheahan was born in St. Catharines, Ontario.
NHL Draft:
- Brian Gionta (82nd overall) and Brad Richards (64th overall) were both third-round picks in the 1998 NHL Draft.
- Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall) and Tomas Tatar (60th overall) were both second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Dylan Larkin (15th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (78), McGinn (64), Foligno (62)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (80), Ristolainen (49), McCabe (32)
Shots: Eichel (97), Ristolainen (77), O’Reilly (74)
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: 4-5-1 (9), 29/28, 8/29, 20/23
OVERTIME RESULTS (2-1; 100-102 all-time)
Oct. 27 at PHI: W, 4-3 (GWG-Girgensons, 2:29)
Nov. 14 vs. SJS: L, 2-1 (GWG-Marleau, 2:59)
Dec. 12 vs. DET: W, 2-1 (GWG-O’Reilly, 3:19)
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 … 4 games … 400 career games played
Johan Larsson … 5 games … 100 career games played
Goals
Tyler Ennis … 8 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 3 assists … 100 career assists
Josh Gorges … 6 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
Ryan O’Reilly … 100th NHL goal … Dec. 12 vs. LAK
