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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