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LAST GAME
Saturday, October 29
Florida 0 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Larsson, Okposo, Reinhart
Goalie: Nilsson (33 saves/33 shots)
PP: 2/4; PK: 4/4; Shots: Florida 33 – Buffalo 25
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 24)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 7 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 7 games
Evander Kane (cracked ribs, Oct. 16) – 6 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/24: Recalled G Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL)
10/29: Assigned G Linus Ullmark to Rochester (AHL)
10/30: Recalled F Nicholas Baptiste from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Monday, Nov. 7: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 9: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
SABRES at JETS
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Jets this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Winnipeg, 3-2, in Buffalo on March 26
- Next meeting: Saturday, Jan. 27 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Jets; 6-3-1 at home.
- This is the 58th game all-time between Buffalo and Winnipeg/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 24-22-11 series record.
- The Sabres are 16-9-4 at home against the Jets/Thrashers all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-8-5 all-time on October 30.
- October 30, 1971: Rookie forward Rick Martin picks up his first career hat trick, including two goals in a span of 1:23, as the Canucks and Sabres play to a 4-4 tie in Vancouver.
- October 30, 1977: Ric Seiling scores his first Sabres goal in a 4-0 win at Montreal.
- October 30, 2015: Linus Ullmark earns his first NHL win against the Philadelphia Flyers, becoming the youngest goalie (22 years, 92 days) to earn a win for the Sabres since Mika Noronen (21 years, 111 days) on did so on Oct. 5, 2000 vs. Chicago.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Today’s game is the second of eight afternoon games (3 p.m. ET or earlier) for the Sabres this season. The team was 6-3-2 in 11 afternoon games last season.
- A win tonight would give the Sabres wins in three consecutive matchups with the Jets/Thrashers for the first time since Feb. 23 to Nov. 8, 2011. It would be the first time the Sabres have won consecutive road games against the franchise since March 17, 2004 and Jan. 31, 2006.
- After going 2-for-4 yesterday vs. Florida, the Sabres’ power play is 8-for-31 (25.8%) on the season, ranking seventh in the league as of the end of yesterday’s game.
HOT AGAINST WINNIPEG
- Kyle Okposo has 10 points (3+7) in his last 10 games against the Jets. In 22 career games against Winnipeg/Atlanta, Okposo has seven multi-point games.
- Sam Reinhart recorded five points (4+1) in two games against the Jets last season, including his first career hat trick on Jan. 10 in Winnipeg. He became the first Sabres rookie to record a hat trick since Jason Pominville did so vs. Los Angeles on Jan. 14, 2006/
- Hudson Fasching scored his first career goal in his NHL debut when these teams last met. Casey Nelson (also playing his first game) recorded an assist on the goal. The pair became the first two Sabres to both record their first career points on the same goal in their NHL debuts since Alexander Mogilny and Dave Snuggerud (10/5/89 vs. QUE).
- Dmitry Kulikov had three assists in last two games against the Jets last season.
- Robin Lehner made 25 saves on 26 shots to earn a win in his only previous meeting with Winnipeg, on March 17, 2013. Anders Nilsson stopped 36 of 38 shots to earn a win in his only previous meeting with the Jets, on March 4, 2014.
SABRES IN THE TOP 10
- Ryan O’Reilly ranked third among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 22:06 after yesterday’s game. 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.
- O’Reilly was ranked fourth in the NHL in faceoff percentage (62.5%) and third in faceoff wins (105) after yesterday’s game. He finished in the top 10 in both categories in 2015-16.
- After yesterday’s game, Matt Moulson tied to lead all NHL players with four power-play goals and tied for third with five power-play points.
- Rasmus Ristolainen finished yesterday’s game tied for second in the NHL with seven assists this season and tied for the league lead with six power-play points.
BACK-TO-BACK
Today’s game wraps up Buffalo’s first of a league-high 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began yesterday afternoon with a 3-0 win vs. Florida. The Sabres were 6-9-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 6-7-2 in the second game last season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets last season was: four points (1), three points (1), two points (9), one point (1) and zero points (3).
ONE BUFFALO
- The Sabres and the Buffalo Bills are playing on the same day for the second of three times this season after doing so three times last season. The other two dates are Oct. 16 and Nov. 7.
- The teams have played on the same date 213 times, with both teams winning their respective games on 48 of those days.
- The Sabres are 114-66-33 when playing on a Bills game day and the Bills are 91-120-2 on those dates.
- If both teams win today, the Sabres and Bills will both have won on the same date twice in the same season for the first time since Nov. 5 and Nov. 26, 2006.
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-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.
- Buffalo drafted Tyler Myers in the first round (12th overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft. Myers went on to win the Calder Trophy after the 2009-10 season, and finished his Sabres career with 151 points (45+106) in 365 games over six seasons.
- 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, the defenseman had 127 points (40+84) in 393 games.
Nicolas Deslauriers:
- Deslauriers (1991) and Paul Postma (1989) were both born on February 22.
Tyler Ennis:
- Played with Tyler Myers for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
Hudson Fasching:
- Represented the United States alongside Kyle Conner at the 2016 World Championship.
Marcus Foligno:
- Teammates with Ben Chiarot for the Sudbury Wolves (OHL) from 2009-2011.
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.
Dmitry Kulikov:
- Played with Shawn Matthias from 2009-2014 for the Florida Panthers.
Jake McCabe:
- Represented the United States alongside Kyle Conner at the 2016 World Championship.
Kyle Okposo:
- Teammates with Blake Wheeler for the University of Minnesota (NCAA) from 2006-2008.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Won a gold medal for Team Canada with Mark Scheifele at the 2016 World Championship.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Represented Finland alongside Joel Armia at the 2011 World U-18 Championship and the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships.
- Played with Patrick Laine for Team Finland at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Sam Reinhart:
- Represented Canada alongside Josh Morrissey at the 2014 World Junior Championship.
- Won a gold medal for Team Canada with Mark Scheifele at the 2016 World Championship.
2009 World Juniors:
- Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers all won gold medals with the 2009 Canadian World Junior Championship team.
NHL Draft:
- Zach Bogosian, Tyler Ennis and Tyler Myers were all taken in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Bogosian was taken 3rd overall, Myers was taken 12th overall, and Ennis was taken 26th overall.
- 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.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Nikolaj Ehlers (9th overall) were both first-round picks oin the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (17), Deslauriers (16), Ristolainen (15)
Blocked Shots: Bogosian (13), Gorges (12), Ristolainen (11)
Shots: Ennis (22), Moulson (21), O’Reilly (20)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 2-3-2 (6), 17/20, 8/31, 20/24
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
Sam Reinhart … 5 games … 100 NHL games
Jake McCabe … 7 games … 100 NHL games
Goals
Tyler Ennis … 7 goals … 100 NHL goals
Assists
Ryan O’Reilly … 2 assists … 200 NHL assists
Points
Marcus Foligno … 4 points … 100 NHL points
RECENT MILESTONES
Rasmus Ristolainen … 200th NHL game … Oct. 27 vs. MIN
