Game Preview: 3/19/16 at TOR

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Friday, March 18
Ottawa 1 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Reinhart, Deslauriers, Bogosian
Goalie: Johnson (32 saves/33 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 4/4; Shots: Buffalo 34 – Ottawa 33

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 306)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 72 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Dec. 31; injured reserve) – 35 games
Cody Franson (neck, Feb. 21) – 13 games
Robin Lehner (ankle, March 18) – 1 game
Carlo Colaiacovo (lower body, March 18) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/14: Signed G Jason Kasdorf to an entry-level contract
3/16: Activated F Ryan O’Reilly from IR; Assigned F Daniel Catenacci to Rochester (AHL)
3/18: Recalled D Chad Ruhwedel and G Nathan Lieuwen from Rochester (AHL)
3/19: Recalled F Daniel Catenacci from Rochester (AHL); Assigned D Chad Ruhwedel to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, March 22: Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 26: Winnipeg at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Monday, March 28: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 29: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 31: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at MAPLE LEAFS

• This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Maple Leafs this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Toronto, 4-3 (SO), in Toronto on March 7
• Next meeting: Thursday, March 31 in Toronto
• The Sabres are 5-2-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Maple Leafs; 2-5-3 on the road
• This is the 200th game all-time between Buffalo and Toronto; Buffalo has a 110-63-26 series record.
• The Sabres are 43-38-18 on the road against the Maple Leafs all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 12-2-2 all-time on March 19.
• March 19, 1981: The Sabres tie the franchise record with 14 goals in a win vs. Toronto (14-4). The team’s nine goals in the second period set an NHL record that still stands today.
• March 19, 1992: Dave Andreychuk tallies four power play goals, the most in a single game in franchise history, in an 8-2 win at Los Angeles.
• March 19, 1998: Alexei Zhitnik scores two shorthanded goals in a 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers at home. Zhitnik shares the franchise record for most shorthanded goals scored in one game by a single player with Don Luce, Bob Sweeney and Michael Peca.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Six of the last nine games between these teams have gone to overtime, including shootouts in four of the last five games in Toronto.
• Matt Moulson has recorded 19 points (11+8) in his last 15 games against the Maple Leafs. In 26 career games against Toronto, Moulson has 25 points (16+9).
• Evander Kane has five points (3+2) in his last five games against Toronto.
• Chad Johnson is 3-0-1 in four career games against the Maple Leafs with a .920 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average.
• Jack Eichel (5+3) and Evander Kane (2-6) each have eight points in their last eight games.
• Evander Kane ranks second in the league with 4.3 shots per game.

HOME COOKING
The home team has won 20 of the last 23 games between the Sabres and the Maple Leafs. With a win tonight, the Sabres would have consecutive road wins against Toronto for the first time since they won eight in a row from Feb. 21, 2008 to Dec. 21, 2009.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 13th of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began last night with a 3-1 win vs. Ottawa. The Sabres are 6-7-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 5-6-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (1), three points (1), two points (7), one point (0) and zero points (3).

FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 563-431-197 (.555) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 112-78-35 (.576) in those games since the lockout. The Sabres are 9-7-6 (.545) since the All-Star break so far this season.

Note: These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.

JACK ATTACK

• With his goal on March 7 at Toronto, Jack Eichel (19 years, 131 days) became the youngest 20-goal scorer in Sabres history, besting Pierre Turgeon (19 years, 140 days on Jan. 15, 1989) by nine days.
• Eichel leads the Sabres with 22 goals this season, the highest total by a Sabres player since 2011-12 (Jason Pominville, 30) and the highest by a Sabres rookie since 2005-06 (Thomas Vanek, 25). If he finishes the season with the team lead, Eichel will be the first Sabres rookie to lead the team in goals since Ray Sheppard did so in the 1987-88 season.
• After last night’s game, Eichel was ranked in the top five among NHL rookies in goals (2nd, 22), assists (3rd, 27), points (2nd, 49) and shots (1st, 218).
• With 49 points (22+27) in 72 games, Eichel is on pace for 56 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).

YOUNG GUNS

• Jack Eichel (49 points) and Sam Reinhart (36) are the first pair of Sabres rookies to reach the 35-point mark since Ray Sheppard (65), Pierre Turgeon (42) and Calle Johansson (42) all did so in 1987-88.
• Eichel (22 goals) and Reinhart (20) are the third pair of rookies in Sabres history to each record 20 goals in the same season, joining Danny Gare (31) and Peter McNab (22) in 1974-75 and Gilbert Perreault (38) and Steve Atkinson (20) in 1970-71.

LOGGING BIG MINUTES

• Rasmus Ristolainen is ranked 11th in the NHL with an average ice time of 25:17 per game. Only Alexei Zhitnik (four times) has averaged more minutes per game in a full season with the Sabres.
• Ryan O’Reilly (21:48) leads all NHL forwards in average ice time per game and Evander Kane (21:11) ranks 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 23:37 per game in his 76 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 19:08 is the ninth-highest ever recorded by a rookie forward and the highest ever by Sabres rookie forward, topping the next highest (Cody Hodgson- 20 GP, 17:16) by more than a minute. Sam Reinhart (16:48 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 31 of 72 games this season, posting an 9-18-4 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 26 of the team’s 72 games this season, going 10-12-4 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-TOR CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:

• Brad Boyes skated as a member of the Sabres from 2010-2012. During his two seasons in Buffalo, Boyes played in 86 games, recording 37 points (13+24).

Former Maple Leafs:

• Toronto drafted Carlo Colaiacovo in the first round (17th overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft. He went on to play 111 games for the Maple Leafs, totaling 33 points (12+21).

Carlo Colaiacovo:

• Colaiacovo, Frank Corrado and Peter Holland were all born in Toronto.
• Played with Brad Boyes for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2011. They were also teammates for the Erie Otters (OHL) from 1999-2002.
• Played with Jonathan Bernier for Team Canada at the 2011 World Championship.

Jack Eichel:

• Played with Jake Gardiner at the 2015 World Championship for the United States.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Frank Corrado for the Sudbury Wolves (OHL) from 2009-2011.

Chad Johnson:

• Played with Michael Grabner for the New York Islanders during the 2014-15 season.
• Teammates with Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau for the New York Rangers during the 2010 season.
• Represented Canada alongside Brooks Laich at the 2010 World Championship.

Evander Kane:

• Represented Canada alongside Brooks Laich at the 2010 World Championship.

Josh Gorges:

• Played with Milan Michalek for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2007.

Jake McCabe:

• Played with Jake Gardiner at the 2014 World Championship for the United States.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Jonathan Bernier for the Los Angeles Kings and Manchester Monarchs (AHL) for two seasons (2007-2009).
• Played with Michael Grabner for the New York Islanders from 2010-2013. Brad Boyes was also on the team during the 2012-13 season, and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau was on the team from 2010-2012.

Ryan O’Reilly:

• Represented Team Canada alongside Peter Holland at the 2009 World U18 Championship.

NHL Entry Draft:

• Zach Bogosian (3rd overall) and Jake Gardiner (17th overall) were both chosen in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
• Evander Kane, Nazem Kadri and Peter Holland were all taken in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Kane was taken fourth overall by Atlanta, Kadri went seventh overall to Toronto and Holland was selected 15th overall by Anaheim.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Morgan Rielly (5th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and William Nylander (8th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (171), Kane (161), Foligno (152)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (144), Ristolainen (121), McCabe (97)
Shots: Kane (260), Eichel (218), Ristolainen (180)

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: 4-4-2 (10), 23/24, 3/30, 17/24
71-80: 1-0-1 (3), 6/3, 2/7, 9/10

OVERTIME RESULTS (4-3; 101-105 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)
March 12 vs. CAR: W, 3-2 (GWG-Eichel, 4:59)
March 16 vs. MTL: L, 4-3 (GWG-Byron, 3:15)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (2-6; 67-57 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)
March 5 vs. MIN: L, 3-2 (GDG-Pominville)
March 7 at TOR: W, 4-3 (GDG-Reinhart)

UPCOMING MILESTONES (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Chad Johnson … 7 games … 100 career games played
Zemgus Girgensons … 8 games … 200 career games played
Assists
Josh Gorges … 2 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Ryan O’Reilly … 3 points … 300 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A