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LAST GAME
Saturday, November 12
Buffalo 2 at New Jersey 4
Goals: Foligno, Moulson
Goalie: Lehner (23 saves/27 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 5/5; Shots: New Jersey 27 – Buffalo 23
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 70)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 15 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 15 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (knee, Oct. 30; injured reserve) – 8 games
Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain, Nov. 3) – 6 games
Tyler Ennis (groin, Nov. 9) – 3 games
Dmitry Kulikov (undisclosed, Nov. 11) – 2 games
Ryan O’Reilly (middle body, Nov. 12) – 1 game
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)
11/13: Assigned F Nicholas Baptiste, D Justin Falk and F Cole Schneider to Rochester (AHL)
11/15: Recalled F Nicholas Baptiste, D Justin Falk and F Evan Rodrigues from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Friday, Nov. 25: Buffalo at Washington, 5 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BLUES
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Blues this season.
- Last meeting: St. Louis defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in Buffalo on Nov. 23, 2015
- Next meeting: Saturday, Feb. 18 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Blues; 1-5-4 on the road.
- This is the 115th game all-time between Buffalo and St. Louis; Buffalo has a 45-53-16 series record.
- The Sabres are 15-31-10 at home against the Blues all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-7-4 all-time on November 15
- November 15, 1987: Doug Smith scores the 5,000th goal in franchise history, helping the Sabres to a 5-4 win over the Maple Leafs at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
- November 15, 1995: The Sabres retire the numbers of Rick Martin (#7) and Rene Robert (#14) in a pre-game ceremony, as they join their French Connection linemate Gilbert Perreault as the second and third Sabres players honored with a banner in the rafters.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are looking to snap an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1) against the Blues and a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in St. Louis. Their last win against the Blues was a 5-3 victory in St. Louis on Dec. 27, 2009. No Sabres – and only three Blues (Patrik Berglund, David Perron and Alexander Steen) – who played in that game remain on the teams’ rosters today.
- Buffalo was ranked second in the NHL in team faceoff percentage (53.6%) entering play Monday.
- The Sabres have gone 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in their last three games and ranked 10th in the league with a penalty kill percentage of 84.2% entering play Monday.
- Kyle Okposo has eight points (3+5) in his last six games against the Blues, including points in each of his last three in St. Louis (2+2).
- Robin Lehner is 3-1-0 in four career games against the Blues with a .924 save percentage.
SHUTTING THE DOOR
- Buffalo’s total of 2.33 goals against per game was tied for fifth-best in the league before Monday’s games. The team’s last season ranked in the top five was 2009-10 (2.45).
- If it holds, the team’s current mark would be Buffalo’s the lowest goals against per game average since 2000-01 (2.24).
- Entering Monday’s games, Anders Nilsson (.942) ranked eighth among goaltenders with at least 120 minutes played in save percentage and Robin Lehner (.923) ranked 19th.
SABRES IN THE TOP 10
- Ryan O’Reilly ranked second among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 21:46 per game before Monday’s games. 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 entered play Monday ranked fourth in the NHL in faceoffs won (187) and sixth among players with at least 100 faceoffs in win percentage (60.5%). He finished in the top 10 in both categories in 2015-16.
- Entering Monday’s games, Matt Moulson was tied for second in the NHL with five power-play goals.
- Rasmus Ristolainen was tied for ninth among NHL defensemen with eight assists this season and tied for third among all NHL defensemen with six power-play points before Monday’s games.
- Ristolainen ranked eighth among all NHL skaters in average ice time per game (25:27) entering play Monday.
- Anders Nilsson entered play Monday ranked eighth among goaltenders with at least 120 minutes in both save percentage (.942) and goals-against average (1.96).
BUF-STL CONNECTIONS
Former Blues:
- Anders Nilsson spent part of the 2015-16 season with the Blues, appearing in three games and compiling a .909 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average. The Blues traded Nilsson to the Sabres on July 2, 2016.
Former Sabres:
- Jim Corsi served as the Sabres’ goaltender coach from 2001-2014.
Cody Franson:
- Teammates with Carl Gunnarsson for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2011-2014.
- Played with Carter Hutton for the Nashville Predators during the 2014-15 season.
Brian Gionta:
- Gionta (1979) and Alex Pietrangelo (1990) were both born on January 18.
Evander Kane:
- Represented Canada with Alex Pietrangelo at the 2011 World Championship.
- Skated alongside Jay Bouwmeester as members of Team Canada at the 2012 World Championship.
Dmitry Kulikov:
- Represented Russia in the 2011 and 2015 World Championships with Vladimir Tarasenko.
- Teammates with Scottie Upshall for the Florida Panthers from 2011-2015.
Johan Larsson:
- Was a member of the Minnesota Wild during the 2012-13 season along with Kyle Brodziak.
Matt Moulson:
- Skated alongside Kyle Brodziak for the Minnesota Wild during the 2013-14 season.
Anders Nilsson:
- Played with Nail Yakupov for the Edmonton Oilers during the 2015-16 season.
- Represented Sweden alongside Carl Gunnarsson at the 2010 World Championship.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Teammates with Paul Stastny for the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2014. Kevin Shattenkirk was also a member of the Avs during the 2010-11 season.
- Represented Canada at the 2012 World Championship with Jay Bouwmeester.
Kyle Okposo:
- Represented the United States at the 2012 World Championship with Paul Stastny.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Played alongside Petteri Lindbohm for Sweden at the 2013 World Junior Championship.
NHL Draft:
- Kyle Okposo (7th overall) and Patrik Berglund (25th overall) were both first-round selections of the 2006 NHL Draft.
- Evander Kane (4th overall), Dmitry Kulikov (14th overall) and Magnus Paajarvi (10th overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Nail Yakupov (1st overall) were taken in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Robby Fabbri (21st overall) were both first-round picks in the 2014 NHL Draft. They were also both a part of the 2015 Canadian World Junior team that won the gold medal at the tournament.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (52), Gorges (37), Ristolainen (34)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (30), Ristolainen (25), Bogosian/McCabe (15)
Shots: O’Reilly (43), Moulson (42), Gionta (35)
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: 1-2-2 (4), 6/13, 1/9, 22/26
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 … 2 games … 500 NHL games
Wins
Dan Bylsma … 8 wins … 300 NHL wins
Games Played
Josh Gorges … 3 games … 700 NHL games
Points
Marcus Foligno … 2 points … 100 NHL points
RECENT MILESTONES
Jake McCabe … 100th NHL Game … Nov. 11 vs. NJD
Ryan O’Reilly … 200th NHL Assist … Nov. 11 vs. NJD
