GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Thursday, January 26
Buffalo 2 at Dallas 4
Goals: Kane (2), Moulson
Goalie: Nilsson (33 saves/37 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 4/5; Shots: Dallas 37 – Buffalo 27
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 237)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 48 games
Johan Larsson (wrist, Jan. 3; injured reserve) – 12 games
Josh Gorges (hip, Jan. 7; injured reserve) – 10 games
Jake McCabe (shoulder, Jan. 21) – 3 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Feb. 2: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 4: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 6: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 7: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 9: Anaheim at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CANADIENS
- This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Montreal 3-2 (OT) in Montreal on Jan. 21
- Next meeting: Wednesday, April 5 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 6-4-0 on the road
- This is the 274th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; Buffalo has a 125-109-39 series record.
- The Sabres are 54-70-13 on the road against the Canadiens all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 14-6-1 all-time on January 31.
- January 31, 1974: Rick Martin scores the first penalty shot goal in team history against Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Bernie Parent in a 4-3 road loss.
- January 31, 2013: Thomas Vanek ties his career high with his second five-point game (3+2) in a 12-day span, leading the Sabres to a 7-4 win at Boston.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have gone 17-9-3 in their last 29 games against the Canadiens, including an 11-4-0 record in 15 road games. The road team has won 13 of the last 18 matchups between these teams.
- Brian Gionta has 13 points (10+3) in his last 13 road games against Montreal, including a point in each of his five visits to Bell Centre as a member of the Sabres (4+1).
- Evander Kane (2+3) and Cody Franson (1+4) each have five points in their last five games against the Canadiens.
- Ryan O’Reilly has 13 points (4+9) in 13 career games against Montreal.
- Zach Bogosian has four points (2+2) in his last five games against the Canadiens.
WHO’S HOT?
- Evander Kane has nine points (5+4) in his last nine games and enters tonight’s game with points in each of his last three, having totaled six points (2+4) in those three games.
- Brian Gionta enters tonight’s game on a three-game point streak (2+1) and has at least a point in each of his last five road games, tallying six points (3+3) in those games. A point tonight would give him his longest point streak since he posted points in five straight from Nov. 6 to 16, 2010.
- Ryan O’Reilly has 11 points (2+9) in 11 games since returning from an absence due to an appendectomy. He recorded two points in five of those 11 games.
- Cody Franson has four points (1+3) in his last four games.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
With the team guaranteed to average more than three goals per game in January regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game, the Sabres (3.33 goals per game so far in January) will have had their most productive month offensively since at least January 2013. Note: Averages below exclude shootout goals.
|
With __ non-shootout goals tonight… |
||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|
…the Sabres will average __ goals per game in January 2017. |
||||||
| 3.08 | 3.15 | 3.23 | 3.31 | 3.38 | 3.46 | 3.54 |
|
Last Five Months in Which the Sabres Averaged 3+ Goals |
|||
| Month |
G/GP |
Monthly League Rank in G/GP |
Record |
| April 2011 |
3.80 |
2nd |
4-0-1 (.900) |
| March 2012 |
3.19 |
4th |
10-4-2 (.688) |
| April 2012 |
3.33 |
T-6th |
1-1-1 (.500) |
| January 2013 |
3.29 |
7th |
3-3-1 (.500) |
| January 2017* |
3.33 |
6th |
7-4-1 (.625) |
*Entering tonight’s games
THE KANE EVENT
Evander Kane has scored each of his 14 goals this season in his last 25 games, including a team-high 13 even-strength goals. In the period since scoring his first goal of the season on Dec. 3 vs. Boston, he is tied for fourth among all NHL skaters in goals (14) and leads the league in even-strength goals (13).
SOPHOMORE SURGE
In their second full NHL seasons, Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart have each improved on their points per game totals from 2015-16.
|
2015-16 |
2016-17 | |||
|
Jack Eichel |
Sam Reinhart |
Jack Eichel |
Sam Reinhart |
|
| G/GP |
.30 (25) |
.29 (24) |
.44 (36) |
.21 (17) |
| A/GP |
.40 (33) |
.24 (20) |
.33 (27) |
.42 (34) |
| P/GP |
.69 (57) |
.53 (43) |
.78 (64) |
.63 (51) |
| SOG/GP |
2.9 (238) |
2.1 (172) |
4.2 (343) |
2.2 (178) |
(82-game pace in parentheses)
ASSIST-OLAINEN
Rasmus Ristolainen is tied for 35th among all NHL skaters with 25 assists.
- Ristolainen has recorded an assist on 21.9 percent of his teammates’ goals*. Only one Sabres defenseman has ever recorded an assist on more than 20 percent of his teammates’ goals: Phil Housley (22.6%) in 1989-90.
- Ristolainen would need to fail to record an assist on each of his teammates’ next 12 goals to fall below 20 percent.
*Teammate goals are defined as total team goals minus the player’s goals and shootout-winners.
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings)
- Buffalo Sabres: 22.5% PP% (6th)
- Eichel: 4.2 S/GP (1st)
- Foligno: 164 hits (5th)
- Nilsson: .935 EV SV% (7th), .923 SV% (9th)
- O’Reilly: 21:40 TOI/GP (4th, forwards), 58.0 FO% (6th)
- Ristolainen: 16 PPA (T-3rd), 27:04 TOI (5th), 17 PPP (T-4th, defensemen), 25 A (T-8th, defensemen)
BUF-MTL CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Paul Byron was drafted by the Sabres in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft. With Buffalo, he appeared in eight games during the 2010-11 season and recorded two points (1+1).
- Brian Flynn played in parts of three seasons for Buffalo, totaling 41 points (17+24) in 159 games.
- Torrey Mitchell played 60 games for the Sabres during parts of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. He had 14 points (7+7) and 30 penalty minutes during his time in Buffalo.
Former Canadiens:
- Brian Gionta played for the Canadiens from 2009-2014, registering 173 points (97+76) in 303 games played. He also served as the team’s captain from 2010-2014.
Zach Bogosian:
- Played with Al Montoya for the Winnipeg Jets from 2012-2014. The two also played together for the United States at the 2009 World Championship.
Cody Franson:
- He and Shea Weber were both born in Sicamous, British Columbia.
- Represented Canada alongside Carey Price at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
Evander Kane:
- Played with Al Montoya for the Winnipeg Jets from 2012-2014.
Dmitry Kulikov:
- Represented Russia alongside Alexei Emelin and Alexander Radulov at the 2011 World Championship.
- Played with Al Montoya for the Florida Panthers from 2014-2016.
Matt Moulson:
- Played with Al Montoya for the New York Islanders from 2010-2012.
Kyle Okposo:
- Played with Max Pacioretty and Jeff Petry for the United States at the 2012 World Championship.
- Played with Al Montoya for the New York Islanders from 2010-2012.
Cal O’Reilly:
- Teammates with Shea Weber for the Nashville Predators from 2008-2011.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Represented Team Finland alongside Artturi Lehkonen at the 2014 World Junior Championship, where the team won the gold medal on Ristolainen’s overtime goal.
NHL Draft:
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall), Alex Galchenyuk (3rd overall) and Stefan Matteau (29th overall) were all first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (164), Ristolainen (125), Carrier (93)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (105), McCabe (64), Gorges (62)
Shots: Kane (122), Okposo (119), Eichel (113)
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: 5-3-2 (12), 31/26, 8/30, 13/24
31-40: 4-4-2 (10), 27/31, 7/34, 21/28
41-50: 4-4-0 (8), 25/26, 5/21, 18/24
OVERTIME RESULTS (5-4; 107-109 all-time)
Oct. 18 at CGY: L, 4-3 (GWG-Monahan)
Nov. 11 vs. NJD: L, 2-1 (GWG-Greene)
Dec. 5 at WSH: L, 3-2 (GWG-Johansson)
Dec. 6 vs. EDM: W, 4-3 (GWG-Ristolainen)
Dec. 16 vs. NYI: W, 3-2 (GWG-Ristolainen)
Jan. 5 at CHI: L, 4-3 (GWG-Kane)
Jan. 20 vs. DET: W, 3-2 (GWG-Okposo)
Jan. 21 at MTL: W, 3-2 (GWG-Bogosian)
Jan. 24 at NSH: W, 5-4 (GWG-Eichel)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-5; 68-63 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)
Dec. 17 at CAR: L, 2-1 (GDG-Stempniak)
Dec. 20 at FLA: L, 4-3 (GDG-Trocheck)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Nicolas Deslauriers … 8 games … 200 NHL games
Points
Cody Franson … 1 point … 200 NHL points
Rasmus Ristolainen … 7 points … 100 NHL points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
