Game Preview: 11/29/16 at OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

Game Notes NHL Stats Press Clips

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).

Top Five NHL Goaltending Tandems by Save Percentage* (as of 11/28)

Team

GP

SA GA SV SV%
Minnesota Wild 21 646 40 605 .937
Montreal Canadiens 22 693 47 646 .932
Buffalo Sabres 21 677 48 629 .926
Ottawa Senators 22 687 51 636 .926
Columbus Blue Jackets 20 599 43 556 .924

*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

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