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LAST GAME
Wednesday, October 25
Buffalo 3 at Philadelphia 4 (SO)
Goals: Moulson (2), Ennis
Goalie: Nilsson (38 saves/41 shots)
PP: 2/4; PK: 1/4; Shots: Philadelphia 41 – Buffalo 25
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 17)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 5 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 5 games
Evander Kane (cracked ribs, Oct. 16) – 4 games
Robin Lehner (illness, Oct. 25) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/21: Assigned F Nicholas Baptiste, F Hudson Fasching and D Casey Nelson to Rochester (AHL)
10/23: Recalled F Hudson Fasching and D Casey Nelson from Rochester (AHL)
10/24: Recalled G Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Oct. 29: Florida at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 30: Buffalo at Winnipeg, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 1: Buffalo at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 3: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 5: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
WILD at SABRES
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Wild this season.
- Last meeting: Minnesota defeated Buffalo, 3-2 (SO), in Buffalo on March 5
- Next meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 1 in Minnesota
- The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Wild; 2-6-1 in nine home games.
- This is the 19th game all-time between Buffalo and Minnesota; Buffalo has an 8-9-1 series record.
- The Sabres are 2-6-1 at home against the Wild all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 13-5-2 all-time on October 27.
- October 27, 1970: Randy Wyrozub records the first two-goal game in franchise history in a 7-2 loss at Vancouver.
- October 27, 1991: Pat LaFontaine plays in his first game as a Sabre, a 4-1 loss at Hartford.
- October 27, 2013: The Sabres acquire Matt Moulson, a first-round pick in 2015 (later traded to Ottawa for Robin Lehner and David Legwand) and a second-round pick in 2015 (Brendan Guhle) from the New York Islanders in exchange for Thomas Vanek.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are looking to avoid their first four-game winless streak since a 0-2-2 stretch in February.
- Buffalo’s power play (6-for-25, 24.0%) ranked ninth in the league entering play Wednesday.
- A win or overtime loss tonight would give the Sabres points in three straight games against the Wild for the first time in franchise history.
- The Sabres are 5-2-2 in their last nine games against the Central division dating back to Nov. 28, 2015 vs. Nashville (4-1 win), including a 2-0-2 record in home games.
PASS GO, COLLECT 200
If he dresses, tonight will be Rasmus Ristolainen’s 200th NHL game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ristolainen, who is celebrating his 22nd birthday today, will become the fourth-youngest player ever to appear in his 200th NHL game with the Sabres:
| Player | Age | Date |
| Pierre Turgeon | 20 years, 136 days | 1/11/90 at Calgary |
| Phil Housley | 20 years, 343 days | 2/15/85 vs. Montreal |
| Tom Barrasso | 21 years, 360 days | 3/26/87 vs. Los Angeles |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | 22 years, 0 days | 10/27/16 vs. Minnesota* |
*If he dresses
HOW THE WEST WAS WON
- The Sabres are 6-0-3 in their last nine home games against Western Conference opponents, marking the team’s first nine-game home point streak against Western Conference teams since Feb. 19 to Dec. 23, 2000 (7-0-2).
- The last time the team last had points in at least 10 straight home games against the opposing conference was an 11-game streak against the Campbell Conference from Feb. 17 to Dec. 28, 1984 (9-0-2).
RUNNING WILD
- Brian Gionta has 10 points (6+4) in his last 10 games against the Wild.
- Robin Lehner is 1-0-1 against the Wild in his career with a .965 save percentage and a 0.96 goals-against average.
- Kyle Okposo has six points (2+4) in his six games against the Wild since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, including an assist in each of the last three.
SABRES IN THE TOP 10
- Ryan O’Reilly ranked second among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 22:51 entering play Wednesday. O’Reilly finished the 2015-16 season ranked first among forwards with 21:44 of ice time per game and has averaged 20:43 per game since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, leading all NHL forwards during that timeframe.
- Entering Wednesday’s games, Matt Moulson led all NHL players with four power play goals.
2016-17 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:
- Seven were originally drafted by the Sabres — five were first-round Buffalo selections (Ennis, 2008; Girgensons, 2012; Ristolainen, 2013; Reinhart, 2014; Eichel, 2015), one was a second-round pick (McCabe, 2012) and one was a fourth-round pick (Foligno, 2009)
- 10 were acquired in trades: Bogosian, Deslauriers, Fasching, Gorges, Kane, Kulikov, Larsson, Lehner, Nilsson, O’Reilly
- Six were signed as free agents: Franson, Gionta, Grant, Moulson, Nelson, Okposo
- 19 played in Buffalo at some point last season (12 forwards, six defenseman, one goaltender)
- Four are new to the Sabres this season: Grant, Kulikov, Nilsson, Okposo
- Three opened the season on an NHL roster for the first time in their careers: Fasching, Grant, Nelson
BUF-MIN CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Jason Pominville spent the better part of nine seasons as a member of the Sabres (2003-2013), also serving as captain from 2011-2013. Over this time, he suited up for a total of 578 games with Buffalo and recorded 456 points (185+271).
- Chris Stewart spent two seasons with the Sabres, posting 25 points (11+14) in 66 games. Stewart was traded to the Wild on March 2, 2015 in exchange for a 2017 second-round selection.
- Zac Dalpe appeared in 21 games for the Sabres during the 2014-15 season, logging three points (1+2).
Former Wild:
- Johan Larsson was Minnesota’s second-round pick (56th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft. He only played one game for the Wild before being traded to Buffalo as part of the Jason Pominville trade.
- Matt Moulson spent part of the 2013-14 season with the Wild, tallying 13 points (6+7) in 20 games and adding three points (1+2) in 10 playoff games.
Zach Bogosian
- Represented the United States alongside Ryan Suter in the 2009 World Championship.
Tyler Ennis
- Played with Jared Spurgeon for the Knights of Columbus Pats of the AMHL from 2004-05. The two also share a hometown of Edmonton, Alberta.
Cody Franson
- Played with Ryan Suter for the Nashville Predators from 2009-2011.
Brian Gionta
- Played with Zach Parise for the New Jersey Devils from 2005-2009. The two also represented the United States in the 2005 World Championship along with Ryan Suter.
Jake McCabe
- Played with Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker for the United States National Team Development Program from 2009-2010.
Matt Moulson
- Played with Nino Niederreiter for the New York Islanders from 2010-2012.
Anders Nilsson
- Teammates with Nino Niederreiter for the New York Islanders during the 2011-12 season.
Kyle Okposo
- Played with Nino Niederreiter for the New York Islanders from 2010-2012.
Ryan O’Reilly
- Represented Canada alongside Devan Dubnyk in the 2012 and 2013 World Championship. Eric Staal was also a part of the 2013 squad.
- Teammates with Matt Dumba for Team Canada during the 2016 World Championship.
Sam Reinhart
- Represented Canada alongside Matt Dumba in the 2014 World Junior Championship.
Rasmus Ristolainen
- Represented Finland alongside Mikael Granlund and Teemu Pulkkinen at the 2012 World Junior Championship. Granlund also appeared with Ristolainen for Finland in the 2011 World U18 Championship. The pair again played for Finland in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where Erik Haula and Mikko Koivu were also on the team.
- Shares a hometown of Turku, Finland with Mikko Koivu.
NHL Draft:
- Kyle Okposo (7th overall) and Chris Stewart (18th overall) were selected in the first round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
- Johan Larsson (56th overall) and Jason Zucker (59th overall) were both second-round selections in the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Mathew Dumba (7th overall) were both first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Jack Eichel (2nd overall) and Joel Eriksson Ek (20th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (15), Foligno (11), Gorges (10)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (11), Bogosian (11), Ristolainen (9)
Shots: O’Reilly (16), Moulson (15), Ennis (12)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 1-2-2 (4), 14/16, 6/25, 14/18
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 102-106 all-time)
Oct. 18 at EDM: L, 4-3 (GWG-Monahan)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-1; 67-59 all-time)
Oct. 25 at PHI: L, 4-3 (GDG-Giroux)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Rasmus Ristolainen … 1 game … 200 NHL games
Sam Reinhart … 7 games … 100 NHL games
Jake McCabe … 9 games … 100 NHL games
Goals
Tyler Ennis … 7 goals … 100 NHL goals
Assists
Ryan O’Reilly … 2 assists … 200 NHL assists
Points
Marcus Foligno … 5 points … 100 NHL points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
