Game Preview: 11/25/16 at WSH

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Wednesday, November 23
Detroit 2 at Buffalo 1 (SO)
Goals: Gionta
Goalie: Lehner (23 saves/24 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 2/2; Shots: Buffalo 33 – Detroit 24

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 104)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 20 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 20 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (knee, Oct. 30; injured reserve) – 13 games
Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain, Nov. 3) – 11 games
Tyler Ennis (groin, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 8 games
Dmitry Kulikov (lower back, Nov. 11) – 7 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/19: Recalled F Cal O’Reilly and F Cole Schneider from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Nov. 29: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 1: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec 3: Boston at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 5: Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 6: Edmonton at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CAPITALS

• This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Capitals this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Washington, 4-1, in Buffalo on Jan. 16
• Next meeting: 4-3-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Capitals; 3-6-1 on the road.
• This is the 153rd game all-time between Buffalo and Washington; Buffalo has an 87-46-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 41-25-10 on the road against the Capitals all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-9-2 all-time on November 25.
• November 25, 1970: The Sabres acquire Eddie Shack and Dick Duff from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Mike McMahon.
• November 25, 2000: Vladimir Tsyplakov scores 10 seconds after the opening faceoff to open the scoring in a 5-3 Sabres win at Montreal.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres have won on the day after Thanksgiving in each of the last three seasons.
• Zemgus Girgensons has three points (1+2) in his last three games against the Capitals.
• Evander Kane has six career two-point games against Washington, including a goal and an assist in his last meeting with the Capitals on Jan. 16.
• Kyle Okposo has 10 points (5+5) in 12 career visits to Washington.

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

• Buffalo’s goaltenders had the second-best combined save percentage* (.930) in the league entering play Thursday. According to Corsica, they also have the fifth-best save percentage during 5-on-5 play (.940).
• The Sabres last finished a season with a combined save percentage* above .920 in the 2009-10 season (.922, Ryan Miller/Patrick Lalime/Jhonas Enroth) and have not hit the .930 mark in a season since 1998-99 (.930, Dominik Hasek/Dwayne Roloson/Martin Biron).
• In his last three games, Anders Nilsson is 2-0-1 with a .976 save percentage and a 0.97 goals-against average. During that stretch, Nilsson has stopped 93 of 95 shots faced at even strength (.979) and 25 of 26 shots while the team was shorthanded (.962).

*Combined save percentage excludes empty net goals

SABRES IN THE TOP 10

• Buffalo was ranked fourth in the NHL in team faceoff percentage (51.9%) and ninth in power play percentage (21.2%) entering play Thursday.
• Anders Nilsson entered play Thursday leading the NHL in save percentage (.951) and ranked fifth in goals-against average (1.74).
• Ryan O’Reilly ranked second among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 21:50 per game before Thursday’s games. O’Reilly finished the 2015-16 season ranked first among forwards with 21:44 of ice time per game and has averaged 20:45 per game since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, leading all NHL forwards during that time frame.
• O’Reilly also ranked fifth in the NHL among players with at least 150 faceoffs in faceoff percentage (59.5%). entering play Thursday.
• Matt Moulson entered play Thursday ranked second in the NHL with six power-play goals.
• Rasmus Ristolainen ranked fifth among all NHL skaters in average ice time per game (26:09) before Thursday’s games and was tied for third among all NHL defensemen with seven power-play points.

BUF-WSH CONNECTIONS
Former Capitals:

• Terry Murray played for Washington during the 1981-82 campaign, his final season in the NHL. He went on to serve as a Capitals assistant coach from 1983 to 1988 before being named Washington’s head coach. Murray posted a 163-134-28 record as bench boss in Washington from 1989 to 1994.

Local Players:

• Brooks Orpik grew up in Amherst, New York and attended Nichols High School.

Dan Bylsma:

• Coached Matt Niskanen for the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2010-2014 and Brooks Orpik from 2009-2014.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Brett Connolly for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.

Cody Franson:

• Teammates with Karl Alzner for Team Canada at the 2007 World Junior Championship.

Brian Gionta:

• Played with Brooks Orpik at Boston College from 1998-2001. The Golden Eagles won the NCAA National Championship in 2001.
• Teammates with Lars Eller for the Washington Capitals from 2010-2014.

Josh Gorges:

• Teammates with Lars Eller for the Washington Capitals from 2010-2014.

Dmitry Kulikov:

• Played with Dmitry Orlov for Russia at the 2008 World U-18 Championship.
• Teammates with Alex Ovechkin for Russia at the 2010, 2011 and 2015 World Championships.

Johan Larsson:

• Played with Nicklas Backstrom for Team Sweden at the 2012 World Championship.

Anders Nilsson:

• Represented Sweden alongside Marcus Johansson at the 2010 World Junior Championship.

Kyle Okposo:

• Represented the United States alongside Taylor Chorney at the 2007 World Junior Championship and the 2010 World Championship.
• Played with T.J. Oshie for the United States at the 2009 and 2010 World Championships. Matt Niskanen was also a part of the team in 2009.

Cal O’Reilly:

• Teammates with Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik for the Pittsburgh Penguins during part of the 2011-12 season.

Ryan O’Reilly:

• Teammates with Brett Connolly for Canada at the 2009 World U18 Championship.
• Teammates with Daniel Winnick for the Colorado Avalanche from 2010-2012.

NHL Draft:

• Evander Kane (4th overall) and Marcus Johansson (24th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
• Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall), Robin Lehner (46th overall) and Dimitry Orlov (55th overall) were second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Tom Wilson (16th overall) were both chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Rasmus Ristolainen, (8th overall) and Andre Burakovsky (23rd overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (70), Gorges (49), Ristolainen (45)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (38), Ristolainen (35), McCabe (21)
Shots: Okposo (55), Moulson/O’Reilly/Reinhart (48), Gionta (47)

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: 3-4-3 (9), 15/26, 6/31, 28/36

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 (1-3; 68-61 all-time)
Oct. 25 at PHI: L, 4-3 (GDG-Giroux)
Nov. 9 vs. OTT: L, 2-1 (GDG-Ryan)
Nov. 19 vs. PIT: W, 2-1 (GDG-C. O’Reilly)
Nov. 23 vs. DET: L, 2-1 (GDG-Vanek)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Wins
Dan Bylsma … 6 wins … 300 NHL wins
Points
Marcus Foligno … 1 point … 100 NHL points
Cody Franson … 9 points … 200 NHL points

RECENT MILESTONES
William Carrier … 1st NHL point (goal) … Nov. 19 vs. PIT