Game Preview: 11/17/16 vs. TBL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, November 15
Buffalo 1 at St. Louis 4
Goals: Reinhart
Goalie: Lehner (27 saves/30 shots)
PP: 1/4; PK: 0/1; Shots: St. Louis 31 – Buffalo 24

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 77)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 16 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 16 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (knee, Oct. 30; injured reserve) – 9 games
Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain, Nov. 3) – 7 games
Tyler Ennis (groin, Nov. 9) – 4 games
Dmitry Kulikov (middle body, Nov. 11) – 3 games
Ryan O’Reilly (middle body, Nov. 12) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
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)
11/16: Assigned D Casey Nelson to Rochester (AHL)
11/17: Recalled D Taylor Fedun from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Tuesday, Nov. 29: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
LIGHTNING at SABRES

• This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Tampa Bay, 4-1, in Tampa Bay on Nov. 10, 2015
• Next meeting: Thursday, Jan. 12 in Tampa Bay
• The Sabres are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 3-5-2 at home
• This is the 91st game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 52-31-7 series record.
• The Sabres are 24-16-4 at home against the Lightning all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-11-1 all-time on November 17.
• November 17, 1979: John Gould scores twice and Don Edwards stops 35 shots as the Sabres top the North Stars 4-2.
• November 17, 2005: Taylor Pyatt scores a hat trick in Buffalo’s 8-5 home win over Washington.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres are looking for a win tonight to avoid the team’s first three-game regulation losing streak since Jan. 20 to 25 and its first six-game winless streak since Dec. 28, 2015 to Jan. 8, 2016.
• Buffalo is seeking a second consecutive win against Tampa Bay for the first time since the team’s wins on March 19, 2012 and Feb. 26, 2013.
• The Lightning will be looking to win their fourth consecutive game in Buffalo for the first time since they won four straight in Buffalo from March 19, 1995 to Oct. 15, 1996. The Sabres’ last home win against the Lightning was a 2-1 shootout victory on Dec. 2, 2014.
• If he dresses tonight, Josh Gorges will appear in his 700th regular-season NHL game. He and Jets forward Chris Thorburn, who can also reach this milestone tonight, would become the 106th and 107th active players to reach 700 games.
• Kyle Okposo has 18 points (5+13) in 23 career games against the Lightning.

DAN-TONA 500
Tonight is Dan Bylsma’s 500th regular-season NHL game as a head coach. Bylsma becomes the 66th head coach (18th active) to reach this milestone. Among all NHL head coaches with at least 500 games coached, only three have a better career record in the regular season.

GOING STREAKING
Matt Moulson has a point in each of his last three games. Excluding a four-game stretch that included the final two games of the 2015-16 season and the first two games of the 2016-17 season, it is his first three-game point streak since Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2015. Moulson has not had points in four straight games in one season since he tallied at least a point in a career-best eight straight (3+7) from Jan. 28 to March 9, 2014.

TOPPING TAMPA

• Buffalo’s all-time record of 52-31-7 (.617) against Tampa Bay is the team’s second-best record against any Eastern Conference opponent, trailing only their 87-46-19 (.635) mark against Washington.
• Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Buffalo has compiled a record of 25-17-2 (.591) against Tampa Bay. The Sabres have scored seven or more goals in a single game against the Lightning six times during that stretch.

SABRES IN THE TOP 10

• Buffalo was ranked fourth in the NHL in team faceoff percentage (52.6%) entering play Wednesday.
• Ryan O’Reilly ranked second among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 21:46 per game before Wednesday’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 Wednesday ranked seventh in the NHL in faceoffs won (187) and fourth 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 Wednesday’s games, Matt Moulson was tied for second in the NHL with five power-play goals and tied for ninth with seven power-play points.
• Rasmus Ristolainen ranked sixth among all NHL skaters in average ice time per game (25:35) entering play Wednesday and was tied for third among all NHL defensemen with six power-play points.
• Anders Nilsson entered play Wednesday ranked ninth among goaltenders with at least 120 minutes in save percentage (.942) and 10th in goals-against average (1.96).

BUF-TBL CONNECTIONS
Local Players:

• Ryan Callahan was born in Rochester, New York and played for the Buffalo Lightning (OPJHL) during the 2001-02 season.

Josh Gorges:

• Represented Canada alongside Braydon Coburn at the 2004 World Junior Championship.

Dmitry Kulikov:

• Teammates with Jason Garrison for the Florida Panthers from 2009-2012.

Johan Larsson:

• Played at the 2012 World Championship for Team Sweden alongside Victor Hedman.

Robin Lehner:

• Played with Ben Bishop for the Ottawa Senators from 2011-2013.

Matt Moulson:

• He and Brian Boyle were both members of the Los Angeles Kings from 2007-2009.

Anders Nilsson:

• Represented Sweden with Victor Hedman at the 2010 World Championship.

Sam Reinhart:

• Represented Canada alongside Jonathan Drouin at the 2014 World Junior Championship. Brayden Point was a member of Team Canada along with Reinhart at the 2015 World Junior Championship.

World Championships:

• Kyle Okposo skated alongside Ben Bishop at the 2010 World Championship. Okposo and  J.T. Brown represented the United States at the 2012 World Championship.
• Jake McCabe played with Tyler Johnson for the United States at the 2014 World Championship.

NHL Draft:

• Cody Franson (79th overall by Nashville) and Ben Bishop (85th overall by St. Louis) were both third-round picks in the 2005 NHL Draft.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (19th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Jonathan Drouin (3rd overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (54), Gorges (41), Ristolainen (36)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (32), Ristolainen (27), McCabe (17)
Shots: O’Reilly (43), Moulson (42), Gionta/Okposo (37)

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: 1-3-2 (4), 7/17, 2/13, 22/27

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 … 1 game … 500 NHL games
Wins
Dan Bylsma … 8 wins … 300 NHL wins
Games Played
Josh Gorges … 1 game … 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