GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 1
Edmonton 2 at Buffalo 1 (OT)
Goals: C. O’Reilly
Goalie: Lehner (39 saves/41 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 3/3; Shots: Edmonton 41 – Buffalo 32
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 274)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 64 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Dec. 31; injured reserve) – 27 games
Cody Franson (neck, Feb. 21) – 5 games
Ryan O’Reilly (lower body, Feb. 21; injured reserve) – 5 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/27: Acquired F Alex Guptill, F Eric O’Dell, F Cole Schneider and D Michael Sdao from Ottawa in exchange for F Jason Akeson, F Philip Varone and D Jerome Leduc
2/29: Acquired a conditional third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft from Anaheim in exchange for F Jamie McGinn; Assigned F Justin Bailey and F Cal O’Reilly to Rochester (AHL); Recalled F Daniel Catenacci and F Cal O’Reilly from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, March 5: Minnesota at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Monday, March 7: Buffalo at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 8: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 10: Buffalo at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 12: Carolina at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
FLAMES at SABRES
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Flames this season.
- Last meeting: Calgary defeated Buffalo, 4-3, in Calgary on Dec. 10
- The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Flames; 9-0-1 at home.
- This is the 103rd game all-time between Buffalo and Calgary/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 49-36-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 31-13-6 at home against the Flames all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 8-8-8 all-time on March 3.
- March 3, 2006: Derek Roy records his first NHL hat trick in a 6-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Buffalo.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have gone 64-for-70 (91.4%) on the penalty kill in their last 25 games, including a 25-for-26 (96.2%) mark in the team’s last eight games.
- Evander Kane ranks third in the league with 4.1 shots per game.
- Robin Lehner’s .933 save percentage through 16 games played is the second-best in the league among goalies with more than five games played, trailing only Carey Price (12 GP, .934).
- In his last seven games, Lehner is 2-3-2 with a .953 save percentage and a 1.55 goals-against average, making it the best seven-game stretch of his career by both metrics.
SABRES-FLAMES
- The Sabres are 15-3-2 in their last 20 home games against the Flames, with the last regulation loss coming on March 15, 1996.
- With points in their last 11 home games against Calgary (9-0-2), the Sabres need a point tonight to match their series-record 12-game point streak in home games against the Flames set from March 11, 1979 to Nov. 10, 1985 (11-0-1).
- The Sabres need a win tonight to avoid losing three straight games to the Flames for the first time since Jan. 12 to Oct. 6, 1996.
- Matt Moulson has seven points (6+1) in his last seven games against the Flames.
WILD, WILD WEST
Tonight’s game is Buffalo’s fifth of five straight games against Pacific Division opponents. The Sabres are 6-5-2 against the Pacific Division this season, the team’s best record against any division. The Sabres are 7-4-2 in their last 13 games against the Western Conference, including a 4-2-1 record in their last seven games against the Pacific Division.
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 559-429-195 (.555) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 108-76-33 (.574) in those games since the lockout. The Sabres are 5-5-4 (.500) since the All-Star break so far this season.
Note: These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.
YOUNG GUNS
- Sam Reinhart leads all Sabres with 18 goals this season and Jack Eichel is tied for second with 17. If either player finishes the season with the team lead, he will be the first Sabres rookie to lead the team in goals since Ray Sheppard did so in the 1987-88 season.
- Entering play Wednesday, Eichel is ranked in the top five among NHL rookies in goals (T-4th, 17), assists (3rd, 24), points (3rd, 41) and shots (1st, 187).
- If they maintain their current pace, Eichel (17+24) and Sam Reinhart (18+11) 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. The Sabres haven’t had two or more rookies reach 35 points in the same season since Ray Sheppard (65), Pierre Turgeon (42) and Calle Johansson (42) each did so in 1987-88.
- Reinhart (18) and Eichel (17) are also on pace to become the third pair of rookies in Sabres history to each record 20 goals in the same season. The last pair was Danny Gare (31) and Peter McNab (22) in 1974-75.
- With 41 points (17+24) in 64 games, Eichel is on pace for 53 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).
LOGGING BIG MINUTES
- Rasmus Ristolainen was ranked 10th in the NHL entering play Monday with an average ice time of 25:19 per game. Only Alexei Zhitnik (four times) has averaged more minutes per game in a full season with the Sabres.
- Ryan O’Reilly (21:51) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game entering play Wednesday and Evander Kane (21:03) ranked second. The pair currently own the two highest average career ice times by Sabres forwards. Michael Peca (20:18) is the only other forward with an average over 20 minutes.
- With an average ice time of 23:30 per game in his 68 games played since joining the Sabres last season, Zach Bogosian owns the third-highest average ice time ever recorded by a Sabres player, trailing only Alexei Zhitnik (531 GP, 25:32) and Christian Ehrhoff (192 GP, 23:55).
- Jack Eichel’s average ice time of 18:50 is the highest ever recorded by a Sabres rookie forward, topping the next highest (Cody Hodgson- 20 GP, 17:16) by more than a minute. Sam Reinhart (16:33 this season) is the only other Sabres rookie forward to top 16 minutes per game.
Note: The NHL began tracking ice time in the 1997-98 season.
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 25 of 64 games this season, posting a 7-16-2 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 23 of the team’s 64 games this season, going 9-11-3 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-CGY CONNECTIONS
Dan Bylsma:
- Coached Deryk Engelland for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2009-2014
Zach Bogosian:
- Played with Michael Frolik for the Winnipeg Jets from 2013-2015.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Colaiacovo, Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton were all born in Toronto, Ontario.
- Played with Matt Stajan for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2002-2008.
Cody Franson:
- Played with Lance Bouma for the Vancouver Giants (WHL) from 2005-2007.
- Teammates with Joel Colborne for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2011-2013 and with Mason Raymond for the Maple Leafs during the 2013-14 season.
Chad Johnson:
- Teammates with Matt Giordano for Team Canada at the 2010 World Championship.
- Played with Dougie Hamilton for the Boston Bruins during the 2013-14 season.
Evander Kane:
- Played with Lance Bouma for the Vancouver Giants (WHL) from 2006-2009.
- Played with Michael Frolik for the Winnipeg Jets from 2013-2015.
Jake McCabe:
- Represented the United States alongside Johnny Gaudreau at the 2014 World Championship.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Played with Markus Granlund for Team Finland at the 2013 World Junior Championship.
NHL Draft:
- Zach Bogosian (3rd overall) and Joe Colborne (16th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Sean Monahan (6th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) was taken two picks before Sam Bennett (4th overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (151), Kane (142), Foligno (132)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (125), Ristolainen (109), McCabe (82)
Shots: Kane (218), Eichel (187), Ristolainen (153)
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: 4-3-3 (11), 29/30, 6/34, 30/33
61-70: 1-2-1 (3), 4/6, 0/8, 7/8
OVERTIME RESULTS (2-3; 100-104 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)
Feb. 6 at BOS: L, 2-1 (GWG-Marchand, 2:32)
March 1 vs. EDM: L, 2-1 (GWG-McDavid, 3:48)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-5; 66-56 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)
Feb. 16 at OTT: L, 2-1 (GDG-Ryan)
UPCOMING MILESTONES (Player … Needs … Milestone)Assists
Josh Gorges … 2 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
