GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Tuesday, December 15
New Jersey 2 at Buffalo 0
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Ullmark (19 saves/21 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Buffalo 25 – New Jersey 21
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 151)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 32 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10; injured reserve) – 31 games
Mark Pysyk (bone bruise, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 14 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Nov. 25; injured reserve) – 14 games
Marcus Foligno (upper body, Dec. 15) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Wednesday, Dec. 30: Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 31: NY Islanders at Buffalo, 6 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
DUCKS at SABRES
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Ducks this season.
- Last meeting: Anaheim defeated Buffalo, 4-1, in Anaheim on Oct. 22, 2014
- Next meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 24 in Anaheim
- The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Ducks; 5-3-2 at home
- This is the 31st game all-time between Buffalo and Anaheim; Buffalo has a 15-12-3 series record.
- The Sabres are 7-5-3 at home against the Ducks all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 8-9-1 all-time on December 17.
- December 17, 1978: Danny Gare scores seven seconds after the opening faceoff in a 6-3 win vs. Vancouver.
- December 17, 1983: Adam Creighton gets his first NHL point in his NHL debut, assisting on the game-winning goal in a 4-1 win at Hartford.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have won five of the last eight home contests against the Ducks (includes Oct. 7, 2011 game in Helsinki, Finland) but are looking to avoid losing three consecutive home games to the Ducks for the first time ever after dropping their meetings on Nov. 2, 2013 and Oct. 13, 2014.
- Matt Moulson has six points (1+5) in his last six games against Anaheim.
- Jamie McGinn has five goals in his last five games against the Ducks.
- Zach Bogosian has four points (2+2) in his last four games against Anaheim.
- The Sabres are 8-for-29 (27.6%) on the power play in their last nine games.
- Rasmus Ristolainen has 18 points (6+12) in his last 19 games.
- Entering play Wednesday, Ryan O’Reilly (21:52) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:11) ranked third.
SHUTTING OUT THE DUCKS
- The Sabres have shut out the Ducks six times in the 30 all-time games between the clubs (Hasek-3, Biron-2, Miller-1).
- This amounts to one shutout for every five meetings, the Sabres’ highest shutout-to-games ratio against any NHL team.
- This ratio is so much higher against the Ducks than the next closest opponent that the Ducks would have to score a goal in each of the next 33 meetings between the teams to bring it even with the next highest current ratio (Columbus and Nashville, two shutouts in 21 games – 10.5 games per shutout).
- The Sabres’ last shutout against the Ducks occurred five meetings ago on Feb. 29, 2012 in Anaheim.
THE O’REILLY FACTOR
- Ryan O’Reilly has 12 points (4+8) in his last 11 games, a stretch that included an eight-game point streak from Nov. 28 to Dec. 14. The point streak tied the longest streak of O’Reilly’s career and also tied for the fifth-longest streak in the league this season.
- Entering play Wednesday, Ryan O’Reilly (59.4%) ranked third in the league in faceoff percentage. O’Reilly also ranked first in the league with 785 faceoffs taken, accounting for 41.2% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
FINNISHING TOUCH
- Rasmus Ristolainen ranks in the top 10 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-5th, 7), assists (T-7th, 16), points (T-4th, 23), shots (T-7th, 80) and multi-point games (T-5th, 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.
- His four power-play goals are the most by a Sabres defenseman since 2010-11 (Jordan Leopold, 5).
- With 23 points (7+16) in 32 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 59 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.
(Stats as of 12/16)
YOUNG GUNS
- With a combined 17 goals through Buffalo’s first 32 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+5) 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 511 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 is on the longest penalty-free streak (42 games) of his career.
- Ristolainen averages 24:30 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 (Matt Tennyson, Nate Guenin) with at least 20 games played and no penalty minutes.
FAMILY TIES
- With Cal O’Reilly’s Sabres debut on Dec. 15 vs. New Jersey, he and brother Ryan O’Reilly became 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-100 (22.0%) on the power play this season, ranked fifth in the league entering play Wednesday. 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 17 of their first 32 games this season, posting a 6-10-1 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 15 of the team’s 32 games this season, going 6-8-1 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-ANA CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Chris Stewart was a member of the Sabres for parts of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons and totaled 25 points (11+14) in 66 games for Buffalo.
Former Ducks:
- Dan Bylsma played for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim from 2000 to 2004. He had 32 points (10+22) in 209 games and was a member of the team that won the Western Conference after the 2002-03 season. Bylsma also began his coaching career during the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
Zach Bogosian:
- Played with Mike Santorelli for the Winnipeg Jets for part of the 2012-13 season.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Colaiacovo, Andrew Cogliano and Chris Stewart were all born in Toronto, Ontario.
- Teammates with Chris Stewart for the St. Louis Blues during the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons. They also both represented Canada at the 2011 World Championship.
Cody Franson:
- Represented Team Canada alongside Andrew Cogliano at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
- Played with Mike Santorelli for the Nashville Predators during the 2009-10 season. They were also teammates for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2014-15 season before being traded to Nashville in the same deal in February.
- Teammates with Korbinian Holzer for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Ryan Getzlaf for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
Chad Johnson:
- Played with Corey Perry for Team Canada at the 2010 World Championship.
Evander Kane:
- He and Mike Santorelli were both born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
- Played with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on Team Canada at the 2012 World Championship.
- Teammates with Chris Stewart for Canada at the 2011 World Championship.
- Played with Mike Santorelli for the Winnipeg Jets for part of the 2012-13 season.
Johan Larsson:
- Played with Jakob Silfverberg for Team Sweden at the 2012 World Championship.
- Teammates with Clayton Stoner for the Minnesota Wild during the 2012-13 season.
David Legwand:
- Played with Mike Santorelli for the Nashville Predators from 2008-2010.
Jake McCabe:
- Played with John Gibson for the United States at the 2013 World Junior Championship and the 2014 World Championship.
Matt Moulson:
- Played with Nate Thompson for the New York Islanders from 2008-2010.
Cal O’Reilly:
- Played with Mike Santorelli for the Nashville Predators from 2008-2010.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Played with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on Team Canada at the 2012 World Championship. Kane and Perry were also on the 2010 World Championship squad.
- Teammates with Chris Stewart for the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2011.
Mike Weber:
- He and John Gibson are both from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
NHL Draft:
- Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall) and Jakob Silfverberg (39th overall) were second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Marcus Foligno (104th overall) and Sami Vatanen (106th overall) were both fourth-round selections in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Cam Fowler (12th overall) and Mark Pysyk (23rd overall) were both first-round selections in the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Hampus Lindholm (6th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (86), McGinn (73), Foligno (66)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (81), Ristolainen (53), McCabe (35)
Shots: Eichel (101), O’Reilly/Ristolainen (80), Kane (76)
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
31-40: 1-1-0 (2), 2/3, 0/6, 3/3
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 … 2 games … 400 career games played
Johan Larsson … 3 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
