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LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 22
Buffalo 3 at Carolina 2
Goals: Colaiacovo, Kane, Larsson
Goalie: Johnson (25 saves/27 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 2/2; Shots: Carolina 27 – Buffalo 25
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 319)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 74 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, Dec. 31; injured reserve) – 37 games
Cody Franson (neck, Feb. 21) – 15 games
Jason Kasdorf (lower body, March 16) – 4 games
Robin Lehner (ankle, March 18) – 3 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/20: Assigned F Daniel Catenacci to Rochester (AHL)
3/21: Signed F Hudson Fasching to an entry-level contract
3/22: Signed D Casey Nelson to an entry-level contract
3/25: Signed F Eric Cornel to an entry-level contract
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, April 2: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 5: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
JETS at SABRES
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Jets this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Winnipeg, 4-2, in Winnipeg on Jan. 10
- The Sabres are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Jets; 5-4-1 at home.
- This is the 57th game all-time between Buffalo and Winnipeg/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 23-22-11 series record.
- The Sabres are 15-9-4 at home against the Jets/Thrashers all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-10-2 all-time on March 26.
- March 26, 1971: Phil Goyette and Gerry Meehan score goals 18 seconds apart in the third period as the Sabres defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, at the Aud.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Today’s game is the 11th of 11 afternoon games for the Sabres this season. The team is 5-3-2 in the first 10.
- The Sabres are 2-0-1 in their last three home games and looking to extend their home point streak to four games for the first time since the team won six straight home games from Nov. 28 to Dec. 15, 2014.
- A point tonight would give the Sabres points in four straight games against Western Conference opponents for the first time since the team had points in six straight from Feb. 10 to March 24, 2012.
- A win tonight would give the Sabres wins in consecutive matchups with the Jets/Thrashers for the first time since they won three in a row from Feb. 23 to Nov. 8, 2011.
- Chad Johnson has stopped 67 of 69 shots (.971 SV%, 0.92 GAA) in two career games against the Jets/Thrashers, both 2-1 shootout losses (Jan. 7, 2010 at ATL & April 10, 2014 at WPG).
- Rasmus Ristolainen has an assist in each of his last two games against the Jets.
- Evander Kane ranks third in the league with 4.2 shots per game.
20 UNDER 25
- The Sabres currently have three skaters under the age of 25 with at least 20 goals: Jack Eichel (22), Evander Kane (20) and Sam Reinhart (20)
- It is the first time Buffalo has had three players reach the 20-goal mark prior to their age 25 seasons* since Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek each had 20 or more in 2006-07.
- If Ryan O’Reilly scores three more goals this season, the Sabres will have four 20-goal scorers under 25* for the first time since 1987-88 (Dave Andreychuk, Phil Housley, Christian Ruuttu and Ray Sheppard).
*All ages used are the players’ ages as of Feb. 1 of the given season
JACK ATTACK
- With one more point this season, Eichel would become the ninth Sabres rookie to record 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).
- 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.
- Entering play Friday, Eichel was ranked in the top five among NHL rookies in goals (2nd, 22), assists (4th, 27), points (2nd, 49) and shots (1st, 218).
- 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.
YOUNG GUNS
- Jack Eichel (49 points) and Sam Reinhart (37) 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 12th in the NHL with an average ice time of 25:14 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 (21:13) 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 23:38 per game in his 78 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 (16:46 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.
POSSESSION PROGRESSION
- The Sabres have outshot their opponents in 31 of 74 games this season, posting a 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.
- The Sabres have led their opponent in even-strength shot attempts (corsi) in 26 of the team’s 74 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-WPG CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Joel Armia was taken in the first round (16th overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft and played in one game for the Sabres during the 2014-15 season.
- Drew Stafford was Buffalo’s first-round selection (13th overall) in the 2004 NHL Draft and he went on to play in parts of nine seasons for the Sabres. He had 322 points (145+177) in 563 games during his Sabres career.
- The Sabres selected Chris Thorburn in the second round (50th overall) of the 2001 NHL Draft. He played two career games with the Sabres, totaling one assist and seven penalty minutes.
Former Jets:
- Zach Bogosian was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft. In seven seasons with Atlanta/Winnipeg, he had 127 points (40+84) in 393 games.
- The Thrashers selected Evander Kane with the fourth overall selection in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft. He went on to score 222 points (109+113) in 361 games for the Thrashers/Jets.
Nicolas Deslauriers:
- Deslauriers (1991) and Paul Postma (1989) were both born on February 22.
Jack Eichel:
- Played with Andrew Copp for the United States at the 2014 World Junior Championship.
Brian Gionta:
- Played with Matt Halischuk for the New Jersey Devils during the 2008-09 season.
Zemgus Girgensons:
- He and Mathieu Perreault share the same birth date. Perreault was born on Jan. 5, 1988 and Girgensons was born on Jan. 5, 1994.
David Legwand:
- Teammates with Matt Halischuk for the Nashville Predators from 2010-2013.
Jake McCabe:
- Played with Jacob Trouba for the United States at the 2013 World Junior Championship and the 2014 World Championship.
Matt Moulson:
- He and Anthony Peluso were both born in North York, Ontario.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Played with Anthony Peluso for the Erie Otters (OHL) during the 2007-08 season.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Represented Finland alongside Joel Armia at the 2011 World U-18 Championship and the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships.
NHL Draft:
- Marcus Foligno (104th overall) and Ben Chiarot (120th overall) were both fourth-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft. They were also teammates for the Sudbury Wolves (OHL) from 2009-2011.
- Mark Pysyk (23rd overall) and Alexander Burmistrov (8th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Jacob Trouba (9th overall) were both first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Nikolaj Ehlers (9th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (180), Kane (166), Foligno (162)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (146), Ristolainen (123), McCabe (100)
Shots: Kane (265), Eichel (218), Ristolainen (186)
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: 2-1-1 (5), 10/9, 2/13, 12/13
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, 3-2 (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 … 5 games … 100 career games played
Zemgus Girgensons … 6 games … 200 career games played
Goals
Mark Pysyk … 2 goals … 3 goals (career high)
Assists
Josh Gorges … 2 assists … 100 career assists
Marcus Foligno … 2 assists … 14 assists (career high)
Ryan O’Reilly … 4 assists … 39 assists (career high)
Points
Ryan O’Reilly … 2 points … 300 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Johan Larsson … 7 goals (career high) … March 22 at CAR
Mark Pysyk … 7 assists (career high) … March 22 at CAR
Mark Pysyk … 8 points (career high) … March 22 at CAR
Chad Johnson … 18 wins (career high) … March 22 at CAR
