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LAST GAME
Thursday, February 4
Boston 3 at Buffalo 2 (SO)
Goals: Kane, Reinhart
Goalie: Johnson (31 saves/33 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 4/4; Shots: Boston 33 – Buffalo 28
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 229)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 52 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Dec. 31; injured reserve) – 15 games
Marcus Foligno (lower body) – 0 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/3: Activated F Nicolas Deslauriers and F Sam Reinhart from IR
2/5: Recalled F Daniel Catenacci from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Feb. 9: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 11: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 12: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 14: Colorado at Buffalo, 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 16: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BRUINS
- This is the fourth and final meeting between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
- Last meeting: Boston defeated Buffalo, 3-2 (SO), in Buffalo on Feb. 4
- The Sabres are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 4-4-2 on the road.
- This is the 281st game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo has a 121-116-43 series record.
- The Sabres are 48-70-20 on the road against the Bruins all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-8-3 all-time on February 6.
- February 6, 1972: Jim Lorentz and Rick Martin each score a pair of goals as the Sabres defeat the Boston Bruins, 8-2, at the Aud. Lorentz would finish the game with four points.
- February 6, 1986: Dave Andreychuk scores a franchise-record five goals and adds one assist in an 8-6 win at Boston.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- With a win tonight, Buffalo would have three consecutive wins in Boston for the first time since Oct. 20, 2005 to March 4, 2006.
- With a win or overtime loss, the Sabres would have points in four straight road games against the Bruins for the first time since they had points in five straight from Oct. 21, 2006 to Nov. 1, 2007 (3-0-2).
- In his five games played since returning from a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for 39 games, Robin Lehner has logged a 2-3-0 record with a .939 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average.
- Lehner has faced Boston more times than any other NHL team. In 12 career games against the Bruins, Lehner has logged a 3-6-2 record with a .923 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average.
- In four career games against the Bruins, Chad Johnson is 2-1-1 with a .933 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average.
- Cody Franson has seven assists in his last seven games against the Bruins.
- If he plays tonight, Daniel Catenacci will be making his NHL debut.
HOME-AND-HOME
Tonight’s game is the second in a home-and-home series between the Sabres and Bruins that began with a 3-2 Bruins shootout win on Thursday in Buffalo. The Sabres and Bruins have previously played 20 home-and-home series, with the Sabres going 10-6-4 (three ties) in the home games and 9-6-5 (three ties) in the road games. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (5), three points (5), two points (6), one point (0), zero points (4).
NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN
The Sabres and Bruins are meeting for the second time in three days after Boston’s 3-2 shootout win in Buffalo on Thursday. For the Sabres, this is the seventh of eight sets of games this season in which they’ll face the same opponent both home and away in a three-game span; two of these are home-and-home series. The final such set will take place on March 10 and 16 against the Montreal Canadiens.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Sabres enter tonight’s game with points in a franchise-record seven straight road games against divisional opponents, having gone 6-0-1 in those games. They enter tonight with wins in four straight divisional road games for the first time since Jan. 20 to March 10, 2011; a win tonight would stretch that streak to five games for the first time since the team won six consecutive divisional road games from Feb. 5 to April 1, 2008.
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK*
Buffalo is 555-424-192 (.556) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 104-71-30 (.580) in those games since the lockout. *Note: These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.
HIGHLY RANKED
- Before Friday night’s games, Ryan O’Reilly (21:54) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:12) ranked second.
- Entering play Friday, Kane ranked third in the league with 4.1 shots per game.
- O’Reilly (56.8%) ranked 10th in the league in faceoff percentage after last night’s game. O’Reilly leads the league with 1,321 faceoffs taken, accounting for 42.5% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs.
YOUNG GUNS
- Jack Eichel enters tonight’s game with 21 points (7+14) in his last 20 games, a stretch which included a career-best, four-game point streak (2+4) from Dec. 30 to Jan. 5.
- Eichel entered Friday night ranked in the top five among NHL rookies in goals (3rd, 16), assists (3rd, 19), points (T-2nd, 35), shots (1st, 155) and time on ice per game (5th, 18:37).
- If they maintain their current pace, Eichel (16+19) and Sam Reinhart (13+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 (16) and Reinhart (13) 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 35 points (14+19) in 52 games, Eichel is on pace for 55 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
- Entering play Friday, Rasmus Ristolainen ranked in the top 15 among NHL defensemen in goals (T-12th, 8), assists (T-11th, 24), points (T-12th, 32), shots (12th, 122), time on ice per game (10th, 25:13) and multi-point games (T-8th, 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 32 points (8+24) in 52 games, Ristolainen is on pace for 50 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.
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 23 of 52 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 22 of the team’s 52 games this season, going 9-10-3 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-BOS CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Joe Sacco served as an assistant coach for the Sabres during the 2013-14 season.
Former Bruins:
- Dave Barr played for Boston from 1981 to 1983 and had two points (1+1) in 12 games played.
- Chad Johnson spent one season with the Bruins and posted a 17-4-3 record with a .925 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average during the 2013-14 campaign.
Local Players:
- Jack Eichel was born in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
Dan Bylsma:
- Coached Max Talbot for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2009-2011.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Played with Zac Rinaldo for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2014-15 season.
Marcus Foligno:
- Played with Brett Connolly for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.
Cody Franson:
- Played with Brad Marchand for Team Canada at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Max Talbot for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
Johan Larsson:
- Represented Sweden alongside Loui Eriksson at the 2012 World Championship.
David Legwand:
- Played with Landon Ferraro for the Detroit Red Wings for part of the 2013-14 season.
Jake McCabe:
- Teammates with Jimmy Hayes for the United States at the 2014 World Championship.
Jamie McGinn:
- Played with Matt Beleskey for Team Canada at the 2006 World U18 Championship.
- Played with Max Talbot for the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-2015.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Teammates with Brett Connolly and Landon Ferraro for Canada at the 2009 World U18 Championship.
- Played with Max Talbot for the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-2015.
NHL Draft:
- Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall), Robin Lehner (46th overall) and Landon Ferraro (32nd overall) were second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Mark Pysyk (23rd overall) and Brett Connolly (6th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Johan Larsson (56th overall) and Ryan Spooner (45th overall) were second-round picks in the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and David Pastrnak (25th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Kane (116), Deslauriers (111), Foligno (108)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (106), Ristolainen (83), McCabe (62)
Shots: Kane (172), Eichel (155), Ristolainen (122)
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: 5-5-0 (10), 22/26, 6/25, 26/28
51-60: 1-0-1 (3), 5/5, 1/6, 5/6
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 (1-4; 66-55 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)
Feb. 4 vs. BOS: L, 3-2 (GDG-Spooner)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Mark Pysyk … 3 games … 100 career games played
Brian Gionta … 6 games … 900 career games played
Robin Lehner … 8 games … 100 career games played
Assists
Josh Gorges … 4 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
