Game Preview: 11/29/16 at OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Friday, November 25
Buffalo 1 at Washington 3
Goals: Reinhart
Goalie: Nilsson (29 saves/32 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 3/4; Shots: Buffalo 33 – Washington 32

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 110)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 21 games
Jack Eichel (high-ankle sprain, Oct. 13) – 21 games
Nicolas Deslauriers (knee, Oct. 30; injured reserve) – 14 games
Zach Bogosian (MCL sprain, Nov. 3) – 12 games
Tyler Ennis (groin, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 9 games
Dmitry Kulikov (lower back, Nov. 11) – 8 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/26: Assigned F William Carrier, F Cal O’Reilly and F Cole Schneider
to Rochester (AHL)
11/27: Recalled F William Carrier from Rochester (AHL)
11/29: Activated F Jack Eichel from IR

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Friday, Dec. 9: Washington at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at SENATORS

• This is the third of five meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
• Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo 2-1 (SO) in Buffalo on Nov. 9
• Next meeting: Saturday, Feb. 4 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 3-6-1 on the road
• This is the 131st game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 62-49-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 28-27-11 on the road against the Senators all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 12-11-0 all-time on November 29.
• November 29, 1981: Lindy Ruff records his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win at home against the Islanders.
• November 29, 1992: The Sabres top the Senators 5-2 on the strength of two-goal nights from Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny.
• November 29, 1993: Dominik Hasek picks up his first shutout as a member of the Sabres, stopping all 24 Toronto shots in a 3-0 win at Maple Leaf Gardens.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres enter tonight’s game with points in five straight meetings with the Senators (3-0-2) for the first time since Buffalo went 6-0-1 against Ottawa from Dec. 4, 2010 to Dec. 13, 2011.
• With a win tonight, the Sabres would have wins in consecutive visits to Ottawa – and points in four straight – for the first time since they won five straight from April 10, 2010 to Nov. 5, 2011.
• Buffalo and Ottawa have had 15 of their last 20 games decided by a single goal. Seven of those games were decided in overtime or a shootout.
• The Sabres are 8-6 all-time in shootouts against the Senators. Their 14 shootouts against Ottawa make up the team’s highest total against any opponent.
• Robin Lehner is 2-0-2 in five career appearances against his former club with a .956 save percentage and a 1.30 goals-against average. Anders Nilsson is 1-1-0 with a .940 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average in two career games against the Senators.
• Jack Eichel has totaled five points (3+2) in four career games against the Senators, including at least a point in each of the four.
• Kyle Okposo has totaled six points (2+4) in his last six visits to Ottawa.

LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

• Buffalo’s goaltenders had the fourth-best combined save percentage* (.923) in the league entering play Monday. They also have the fifth-best save percentage during 5-on-5 play (.942).
• 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).

*Combined save percentage excludes empty net goals

SABRES IN THE TOP 10

• Buffalo was ranked fifth in the NHL in team faceoff percentage (52.0%) entering play Monday.
• Anders Nilsson entered play Thursday ranked fourth in the NHL in save percentage (.945) and ranked eighth in goals-against average (1.96).
• Ryan O’Reilly ranked second among all NHL forwards with an average ice time of 21:59 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 20:45 per game since the beginning of the 2014-15 season, leading all NHL forwards during that time frame.
• O’Reilly also ranked seventh in the NHL among players with at least 200 faceoffs in faceoff percentage (58.8%). entering play Monday.
• Matt Moulson entered play Monday ranked second in the NHL with six power-play goals.
• Rasmus Ristolainen ranked fifth among all NHL skaters in average ice time per game (26:13) before Monday’s games and was tied for fourth among all NHL defensemen with seven power-play points.

BUF-OTT CONNECTIONS
Former Senators:

• Goaltender Robin Lehner was a second-round selection (46th overall) of the Senators in the 2009 NHL Draft. He appeared in 86 games over the course of his time with Ottawa and compiled a 30-36-13 record with a .914 save percentage and a 2.88 goals-against average.
• Derek Grant was a fourth-round selection (119th overall) of the Ottawa Senators in the 2008 NHL Draft. During his time with the organization he appeared in 25 games and recorded two points (0+2).

Cody Franson:

• Skated alongside Tom Pyatt for Team Canada during the 2007 World Junior Championship.
• Was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs with Dion Phaneuf from 2011-2015.

Brian Gionta:

• Teammates with Tom Pyatt for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2011.

Josh Gorges:

• Was a member of Team Canada with Dion Phaneuf at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
• Teammates with Tom Pyatt for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2011.

Evander Kane:

• Represented Canada with Marc Methot and Dion Phaneuf during the 2011 and 2012 World Championships.

Johan Larsson:

• Was a member of Team Sweden during the 2012 World Championship along with Erik Karlsson.

Jake McCabe:

• Played with Chris Wideman for the United States at the 2016 World Championship.

Anders Nilsson:

• Represented Sweden alongside Erik Karlsson at the 2010 World Championship.

Ryan O’Reilly:

• Represented Canada alongside Derick Brassard and Cody Ceci at the 2016 World Championship.
• Was a member of Team Canada with Marc Methot at the 2012 World Championship.
• Played for the Colorado Avalanche with Craig Anderson from 2009-2011.

Kyle Okposo:

• Represented the United States alongside Bobby Ryan at the 2012 World Championship.

Sam Reinhart:

• Helped represent Canada at the 2016 World Championship with both Derick Brassard and Cody Ceci.

NHL Draft:

• Kyle Okposo (7th overall) was taken one pick after Derick Brassard (6th overall) in the first round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
• Marcus Foligno (104th overall) was a fourth-round selection in the 2009 NHL Draft along with Chris Wideman (100th overall).
• Zemgus Girgensons and Cody Ceci were back-to-back selections in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft. Girgensons was selected 14th overall while Ceci went 15th overall.
• Jack Eichel (2nd overall) and Thomas Chabot (18th overall) were both first-round selections in the 2015 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (70), Gorges/Ristolainen (49), Carrier (43)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (40), Ristolainen (38), McCabe (22)
Shots: Okposo (56), R. O’Reilly/Reinhart (53), Ristolainen (49)

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
21-30: 0-1-0 (0), 1/3, 0/4, 3/4

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 … 8 points … 200 NHL points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A