Game Preview: 11/12/16 at NJD

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

Game Notes NHL Stats Press Clips

LAST GAME
Friday, November 11
New Jersey 2 at Buffalo 1 (OT)
Goals: Moulson
Goalie: Nilsson (41 saves/43 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 6/6; Shots: New Jersey 43 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 62)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed

Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 14 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 14 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (knee, Oct. 30; injured reserve) – 7 games
Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain, Nov. 3) – 5 games
Tyler Ennis (groin, Nov. 9) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/9:
Recalled F Cole Schneider from Rochester (AHL); Assigned F Hudson Fasching to Rochester; Activated F Evander Kane from IR; Placed F
Nicolas Deslauriers on IR
11/11: Recalled D Justin Falk from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Nov. 15:
Buffalo at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 17: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 21: Calgary at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 23: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at DEVILS

  • This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season.
  • Last meeting: New Jersey defeated Buffalo, 2-1 (OT), in Buffalo on Nov. 11
  • Next meeting: Saturday, Nov. 12 in New Jersey
  • The Sabres are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Devils; 4-3-3 on the road.
  • This is the 150th game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 74-49-26 series record.
  • The Sabres are 34-24-15 on the road against the Devils all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

  • The Sabres are 10-7-3 all-time on November 12.
  • November 12, 1988: The Sabres acquire Doug Bodger and Darrin Shannon in exchange for Tom Barrasso and a third-round pick (Joe Dziedzic) in the 1990 NHL Draft.
  • November 12, 1991: Pat LaFontaine records his first hat trick as a member of the Sabres in a 7-1 win at San Jose.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • Buffalo was ranked second in the NHL in team faceoff percentage (54.0%) after last night’s game.
  • Anders Nilsson is 4-1-1 in seven career appearances against the Devils, with a .953 save percentage and a 1.98 goals-against average. Nilsson has played more games against New Jersey than against any other opponent and earned his first NHL win with a 24-save shutout against the Devils on March 4, 2012.
  • The road team has won the last five games between these teams. Prior to that stretch, the home team had won eight in a row.

PUTTING IN EXTRA TIME

  • 11 of the last 23 games between the Sabres and Devils have been settled in overtime or a shootout, including eight of the last 15.
  • With 12 shootouts in the 31 matchups since the beginning of 2007-08 season, the Sabres have played more shootouts against the Devils than any other non-divisional opponent, going 7-5 in those shootouts.

HOME-AND-HOME

  • Tonight’s game is the second in a home-and-home series between the Sabres and Devils that began last night in Buffalo.
  • The Sabres and Devils have previously played four home-and-home series, with the Sabres going 1-2-1 (one tie) in the home games and 3-1-0 in the road games. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (1), three points (0), two points (2), one point (1), zero points (0).
  • The Sabres have played in 158 previous home-and-home series in franchise history, going 90-45-23 (.642) in the home games and 56-73-29 (.446) in the road games in previous series. The team is 70-59-29 (.535) all-time in the first game of these series and 76-59-23 (.554) in the second. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (31), three points (25), two points (65), one point (15), zero points (22).

PREVIOUS SABRES-DEVILS HOME-AND-HOME SERIES

  • 29, 1984: Buffalo 2 at New Jersey 1
  • 31, 1984: New Jersey 4 at Buffalo 6
  • 26, 1998: Buffalo 2 at New Jersey 0
  • 28, 1998: New Jersey 7 at Buffalo 4
  • 10, 2002: Buffalo 1 at New Jersey 4
  • 12, 2002: New Jersey 2 at Buffalo 2
  • 13, 2008: Buffalo 4 at New Jersey 2
  • 17, 2008: New Jersey 5 at Buffalo 3

BACK-TO-BACK
Today’s game wraps up Buffalo’s second of a league-high 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 2-1 overtime loss last night in Buffalo. The Sabres are 1-0-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-0-0 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 (0), two points (0), one point (0) and zero points (0).

SABRES IN THE TOP 10

  • Ryan O’Reilly ranked second among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 21:46 per game after last night’s game. O’Reilly finished the 2015-16 season ranked first among forwards with 21:44 of ice time per game and has averaged 20:44 per game since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, leading all NHL forwards during that time frame.
  • O’Reilly finished last night’s game ranked fourth in the NHL in faceoffs won (187) and seventh among players with at least 100 faceoffs in win percentage (60.5%). He finished in the top 10 in both categories in 2015-16.
  • After last night’s game, Matt Moulson was tied for the NHL lead with five power-play goals.
  • Rasmus Ristolainen was tied for seventh among NHL defensemen with eight assists this season and to lead all NHL defensemen with six power-play points after last night’s game.
  • Ristolainen ranked ninth among all NHL skaters in average ice time per game (25:19) after last night’s game.

BUF-NJD CONNECTIONS
Former Devils:

  • Brian Gionta played for the Devils from 2001-2009, tallying 312 points (152+160) in 473 games. Selected by New Jersey in the third round (82nd overall) of the 1998 NHL Draft, Gionta won a cup with the Devils in 2003 and currently holds the club’s single-season franchise record in goals (48), which he set during the 2005-06 campaign.

Dan Bylsma:

  • Coached Beau Bennett (2012-2014) and Ben Lovejoy (2008-2013) during his time as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Brian Gionta:

  • Played with Michael Cammalleri for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.

Josh Gorges:

  • Teammates with Michael Cammalleri for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
  • Was a member of the Kelowna Rockets during the 2000-01 season along with Vernon Fiddler.

Johan Larsson:

  • Represented Team Sweden alongside Jacob Josefson at the 2009 World U18 Championship.

Robin Lehner;

  • Represented Team Sweden alongside Jacob Josefson at the 2009 World U18 Championship.

Evander Kane:

  • Was a member of Team Canada with Travis Zajac at the 2011 World Championship.

Jake McCabe:

  • Was a part of the United States National Team Development Program with Reid Boucher from 2009-2011.
  • Represented the United States alongside Keith Kinkaid at the 2016 World Championship.

Matt Moulson:

  • Was a member of the Los Angeles Kings with Michael Cammalleri during the 2007-08 season.
  • Played alongside P.A. Parenteau for the New York Islanders from 2010-2012.
  • Teammates with Kyle Quincey for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2008-09 season.
  • Moulson (1983) and Nick Lappin (1992) were both born on November 1.

Anders Nilsson:

  • Played for the Edmonton Oilers organization along with Taylor Hall during the 2015-16 season.
  • Represented Sweden at the 2015 World Championship alongside Jacob Josefson. The two were also members of the Swedish World Junior team in 2010.
  • Played for the New York Islanders with P.A. Parenteau during the 2011-12 season.

Ryan O’Reilly:

  • Was a member of Team Canada with Taylor Hall for the 2013, 2015 and 2016 World Championships.
  • Teammates with P.A. Parenteau for the Colorado Avalanche from 2012-2014.
  • Played with Kyle Quincey for the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2012.

Kyle Okposo:

  • Played alongside Andy Greene for the United States at the 2010 World Championship.
  • Represented the United States with Kyle Palmieri at the 2012 World Championship.
  • Played for the New York Islanders with A. Parenteau from 2010-2012.

Sam Reinhart:

  • Represented Canada with Taylor Hall at the 2016 World Championship.

NHL Draft:

  • Evander Kane (4th overall), Dmitry Kulikov (14th overall), Jacob Josefson (20th overall), John Moore (21st overall) and Kyle Palmieri (26th overall) were all first-round selections in the 2009 NHL Draft.
  • Johan Larsson (56th overall) and Devante Smith-Pelly (42nd overall) was both second-round selections in the 2010 NHL Draft.
  • Jake McCabe (44th overall) and Damon Severson (60th overall) were both selected in the second round of the 2012 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits:
Foligno (47), Gorges (35), Ristolainen (33)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (27), Ristolainen (24), Bogosian (15)
Shots: O’Reilly (43), Moulson (40), Gionta/Reinhart (34)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 4-4-2 (10), 23/24, 8/35, 26/31
11-20: 1-1-2 (4), 4/9, 1/8, 17/21

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-2; 102-107 all-time)
Oct. 18 at EDM: L, 4-3 (GWG-Monahan)
Nov. 11 vs. NJD: L, 2-1 (GWG-Greene)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-2; 67-60 all-time)
Oct. 25 at PHI: L, 4-3 (GDG-Giroux)
Nov. 9 vs. OTT: L, 2-1 (GDG-Ryan)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Coached

Dan Bylsma … 3 games … 500 NHL games
Wins
Dan Bylsma … 8 wins … 300 NHL wins
Games Played
Josh Gorges … 3 games … 700 NHL games
Points
Marcus Foligno … 3 points … 100 NHL points

RECENT MILESTONES
Sam Reinhart … 100th NHL Game … Nov. 7 at BOS
Jake McCabe … 100th NHL Game … Nov. 11 vs. NJD
Ryan O’Reilly … 200th NHL Assist … Nov. 11 vs. NJD

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