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LAST GAME
Wednesday, January 20
Buffalo 1 at Colorado 2
Goals: Kane
Goalie: Lehner (33 saves/35 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 3/3; Shots: Colorado 35 – Buffalo 28
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 209)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 47 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Dec. 31; injured reserve) – 10 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (lower body, Jan. 5; injured reserve) – 8 games
Zemgus Girgensons (upper body, Jan. 16) – 3 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/16: Recalled F Philip Varone from Rochester (AHL)
1/22: Recalled F Cal O’Reilly from Rochester (AHL); Placed F Zemgus Girgensons on injured reserve
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Jan. 25: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 26: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 3: Buffalo at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 4: Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 6: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
RED WINGS at SABRES
- This is the fourth of five meetings between the Sabres and Red Wings this season.
- Last meeting: Detroit defeated Buffalo, 4-3, in Buffalo on Jan. 2
- Next meeting: Monday, March 28 in Detroit
- The Sabres are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Red Wings; 2-7-1 at home.
- This is the 128th game all-time between Buffalo and Detroit; Buffalo has a 55-55-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 35-18-9 at home against the Red Wings all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-5-1 all-time on January 22.
- January 22, 1988: Phil Housley records his second career hat trick in a 7-3 win over New Jersey. Housley still holds the Sabres’ franchise record for most career hat tricks by defenseman (2).
- January 22, 1989: Lindy Ruff scores his 100th NHL goal in a 6-4 win at home against the Bruins.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- A win tonight would give the Sabres two wins in a season against the Red Wings for the first time since they won both matchups in the 1989-90 season.
- Rasmus Ristolainen has five assists in three games against the Red Wings this season.
- Brian Gionta has five points (3+2) in five career home games against the Red Wings.
- Evander Kane ranked fourth in the league entering play Thursday with 3.9 shots per game. Kane is the only player in the league to lead his team in both shots per game (3.9) and hits per game (2.8).
- Entering Thursday’s games, Ryan O’Reilly (21:55) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:05) ranked third.
THE O’REILLY FACTOR
- Ryan O’Reilly has 23 points (10+13) in his last 24 games, a stretch that included an eight-game point streak from Nov. 28 to Dec. 14 which tied the longest streak of O’Reilly’s career.
- O’Reilly (57.2%) ranked sixth in the league in faceoff percentage before Thursday’s games. O’Reilly also leads the league with 1,191 faceoffs taken, accounting for 42.4% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
- O’Reilly will become the 31st player in Sabres history to appear in the NHL All-Star Game when he plays in this year’s installment on Jan. 31 in Nashville.
YOUNG GUNS
- Jack Eichel enters tonight’s game with 16 points (5+11) in his last 15 games, a stretch which included a career-best, four-game point streak (2+4) from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5. It is the best 15-game stretch by a Sabres rookie since Derek Plante logged 17 points in 15 games during the 1993-94 season.
- Eichel entered Thursday’s games ranked in the top five among NHL rookies in goals (T-2nd, 14), assists (T-3rd, 16), points (T-3rd, 30), shots (1st, 144) and time on ice per game (5th, 18:45).
- If they maintain their current pace, Eichel (14+16) and Sam Reinhart (12+9) would 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.
- Eichel (14) and Reinhart (12) are also on pace to become the second pair of rookies in Sabres history to each record 20 goals in the same season. The first pair was Danny Gare (31) and Peter McNab (22) in 1974-75.
- With 30 points (14+16) in 47 games, Eichel is on pace for 52 points this season. If he reaches the 50-point mark, he will become the ninth Sabres rookie to record more than 50 points in a season. He would be the first since Derek Plante (1993-94) and the second-youngest to do so, trailing only Phil Housley (1982-83).
FINNISHING TOUCH
- Before Thursday’s games, Rasmus Ristolainen ranked in the top 15 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-11th, 8), assists (T-7th, 23), points (T-8th, 31), shots (10th, 115), time on ice per game (12th, 25:00) and multi-point games (T-5th, 7).
- Ristolainen is the first Sabres defenseman to record seven multi-point games in a season since Jordan Leopold in 2010-11. Jaroslav Spacek (10 multi-point games in 2008-09) was the last Sabres defenseman to record more than seven.
- His four power-play goals are the most by a Sabres defenseman since 2010-11 (Jordan Leopold, 5).
- With 31 points (8+23) in 47 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 54 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.
JOHNNY ON THE SPOT
Chad Johnson has appeared in 18 games since the beginning of November, logging a 9-6-2 record with a .936 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average during that stretch. Johnson stopped a career-high 44 shots on Dec. 17 vs. Anaheim to earn his fourth career shutout, setting the Sabres’ franchise record for most saves in a regular-season shutout.
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 23 of 47 games this season, posting a 7-15-1 record in those games. Last season, the team finished the season 5-5-0 in 10 total games when outshooting their opponents.
POSSESSION PROGRESSION
The Sabres have led their opponent in even-strength shot attempts (corsi) in 19 of the team’s 47 games this season, going 8-9-2 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.
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: Kane (103), Deslauriers (102), McGinn (96)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (98), Ristolainen (73), McCabe (55)
Shots: Eichel (144), Kane (143), Ristolainen (115)
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: 3-6-1 (7), 20/27, 4/35, 17/21
41-50: 4-3-0 (8), 16/15, 5/21, 17/18
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. LAK: W, 2-1 (GWG-O’Reilly, 3:19)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-3; 66-54 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)
Dec. 19 vs. CHI: L, 3-2 (GDG-Kane)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Evander Kane … 2 games … 400 career games played
Mark Pysyk … 8 games … 100 career games played
Assists
Josh Gorges … 4 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
Zach Bogosian … 100th NHL assist … Jan. 16 vs. WSH
David Legwand … 1,100th NHL game … Jan. 18 at ARI
