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LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 14
Buffalo 1 at San Jose 4
Goals: Eichel
Goalie: Lehner (37 saves/41 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 2/3; Shots: San Jose 41 – Buffalo 23
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 339)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 70 games
Johan Larsson (wrist, Jan. 3; injured reserve) – 34 games
William Carrier (knee, Feb.4; injured reserve) – 20 games
Kyle Okposo (ribs, March 4) – 6 games
Dmitry Kulikov (upper body, March 5) – 5 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/13: Recalled F Hudson Fasching from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, March 17: Buffalo at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Monday, March 20: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 21: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 25: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, March 27: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at KINGS
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Kings this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Los Angeles 6-3 in Buffalo on Dec. 13, 2016
- The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Kings; 2-7-1 on the road
- This is the 121st game all-time between Buffalo and Los Angeles; Buffalo has a 59-42-19 series record.
- The Sabres are 24-26-10 on the road against the Kings all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 10-6-7 all-time on March 16.
- March 16, 1975: Gilbert Perreault scores three goals and assists on three more as the Sabres defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 11-3 on the road.
- March 16, 1989: The Sabres get a goal from six different scorers (Andreychuk, Arniel, Foligno, Hogue, Krupp, Turgeon) in a 6-1 win at Hartford.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Tonight’s game is Buffalo’s second in a three-game road trip against Pacific Division opponents. The Sabres are 6-5-1 against the Pacific Division this season.
- With a win tonight, the Sabres will have defeated the Kings twice in a season for the first time since 2003-04. The teams have split the only three multi-game season series since then (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16).
- The Sabres are seeking their first road win against the Kings since Oct. 8, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. All three trips to Los Angeles since that win have been 2-0 Kings wins.
- Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly both have 10 points (5+5) in their last 10 games against Los Angeles.
- Rasmus Ristolainen has three assists in his last three games against the Kings.
WHO’S HOT?
- Jack Eichel has not gone two games without a point since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. In the 20 games since, Eichel has totaled 27 points (8+19).
- Evander Kane has 22 points (13+9) in his last 24 games, including 11 goals in his last 16.
- Rasmus Ristolainen has a point in 14 of his last 20 games (2+13).
- Ryan O’Reilly has recorded eight points (3+7) in his last eight games.
- Matt Moulson has a point in four of his last five games (1+3) and is seeking his first four-game point streak since he posted points in eight straight games from Jan. 28 to March 9, 2014.
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
With the exception of the 2011 NHL Premiere* meeting between these teams, the home team has won the last 13 games between the Sabres and the Kings. The last time one of these teams won in the other team’s arena was a 5-1 Sabres victory on Oct. 23, 2003, when the Sabres snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) in road games against the Kings that dated back to March 13, 1996 (6-2 Sabres win).
*The Sabres topped the Kings, 4-2, in a road game on Oct. 8, 2011, but the game was held in Berlin, Germany as part of the 2011 NHL Premiere series.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s 15th of a league-high 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which will conclude tomorrow at Anaheim. The Sabres are 6-5-3 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 5-8-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (2), three points (2), two points (5), one point (2) and zero points (3).
JACK ATTACK
- In the time since his Nov. 29 return from an injury that sidelined him for 21 games, Jack Eichel ranks eighth among all NHL skaters with 48 points (20+28) and leads the league with 197 shots on goal.
- Eichel leads the league in assists (19) and is tied for the league-lead in points (27) since the beginning of February.
- Eichel has logged 33 points (12+21) in his last 28 games, including 10 multi-point outings during that stretch. The Sabres are 12-2-0 this season (and 21-5-0 in his career) when he has at least two points.
- Eichel’s .98 points per game rank him 10th among all players with at least 20 games played this season.
*All rankings before 3/15 games.
THE KANE EVENT
- Evander Kane has scored each of his 25 goals this season in his last 46 games.
- Kane is tied for 10th in the NHL with 22 even-strength goals despite not scoring his first until Dec. 3.
- Since Dec. 1, Kane ranks fourth among all NHL skaters in goals (25), leads the league in even-strength goals (22) and ranks second in shots on goal (184).
- Kane’s current pace of .379 even-strength goals per game is the highest by any Sabre with at least 15 games played since Alexander Mogilny’s franchise-best mark in 1992-93 (.636).
*All rankings before 3/15 games.
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) |
.41 (33) |
.24 (19) |
| A/GP |
.40 (33) |
.24 (20) |
.57 (47) |
.40 (33) |
| P/GP |
.69 (57) |
.53 (43) |
.98 (80) |
.63 (52) |
| SOG/GP |
2.9 (238) |
2.1 (172) |
4.0 (330) |
2.3 (192) |
(82-game pace in parentheses)
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER
- The Sabres entered play Wednesday ranked first in the league with a 23.6% success rate on the power play.
- Buffalo has not finished a season ranked in the top five in power play percentage since the 2005-06 season (third, 21.2%) and the team has led the league only once (1991-92, 22.5%)
- The team’s current power-play percentage would rank as the fifth-best conversion rate in franchise history and the best since the team’s 23.6% mark in 1984-85. It would be the 27th-best season by any team since the league began publishing the stat in 1987-88.
ASSIST-OLAINEN
Rasmus Ristolainen entered play Wednesday tied for 23rd among all NHL skaters with 38 assists this season.
- Ristolainen has recorded an assist on 22.1 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 19 goals to fall below 20 percent.
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 3/15 games)
- Buffalo Sabres: 23.6% PP% (1st)
- Eichel: 4.0 S/GP (1st), .98 PTS/GP (10th)
- Foligno: 246 hits (3rd)
- Kane: 22 EVG (T-10th), 3.6 S/GP (7th)
- O’Reilly: 21:39 TOI/GP (1st, forwards), 57.5 FO% (6th)
- Ristolainen: 23 PPA (T-1st), 26:59 TOI (4th), 151 BkS (7th), 24 PPP (T-8th), 38 A (6th, defensemen), 43 PTS (T-10th, defensemen)
BUF-LAK Connections
Former Sabres:
- Brayden McNabb was selected by the Sabres in the third round (66th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He spent two seasons in Buffalo, suiting up for 37 games and tallying eight points (1+7) before being traded to the Kings on March 5, 2014.
Former Kings:
- Dan Bylsma played for Los Angeles from 1995-2000 and had 30 points (9+21) in 220 games during his five seasons for the Kings.
- Nicolas Deslauriers was the Kings’ third-round draft selection (84th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft. He never played for the Kings and was traded to Buffalo on March 5, 2014 along with Hudson Fasching in the Brayden McNabb
- The Kings selected Hudson Fasching in the fourth round (118th overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft before trading him and Nicolas Deslauriers to the Sabres on March 5, 2015.
- Matt Moulson spent two seasons with the Kings and recorded 10 points (6+4) in 29 games.
- Terry Murray served as the Kings’ head coach from 2008-2011, posting a 139-106-30 mark behind the bench for the Kings.
Dan Bylsma:
- Coached Jarome Iginla for part of the 2012-13 season.
Zach Bogosian:
- Played with Dustin Brown for the United States at the 2009 World Championship.
Jack Eichel:
- Represented the United States at the 2015 World Championship with Trevor Lewis.
Tyler Ennis:
- He and Jarome Iginla were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.
- Played with Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship.
Josh Gorges:
- Teammates with Jeff Carter for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
Robin Lehner:
- Played alongside Jordan Nolan and Jake Muzzin for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) during the 2009-10 season.
- Played with Ben Bishop for the Ottawa Senators from 2011-2013.
Jake McCabe:
- Was a member of the United States NTDP during the 2009-10 season with Nick Shore and Derek Forbort.
Matt Moulson:
- He is the brother-in-law of Jonathan Quick.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Teammates with Kyle Clifford and Brayden McNabb for Team Canada at the 2009 World U18 Championship.
- Played with Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship.
Sam Reinhart:
- Played with Brayden McNabb for the Kootenay Ice (WHL) during the 2010-11 season.
NHL Draft:
- Cody Franson (79th overall),Jonathan Quick (72nd overall) and Ben Bishop (85th overall) were all third-round picks in the 2005 NHL Draft.
- Zach Bogosian, Tyler Ennis and Drew Doughty were all selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Doughty was the 2nd overall pick, Bogosian was the 3rd overall selection and Ennis was chosen 26th overall.
- Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall), Robin Lehner (46th overall) and Kyle Clifford (35th overall) were all selected in the second round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Nicolas Deslauriers and Brayden McNabb, who were involved in the same trade in 2014, were both third-round selections in the 2009 NHL Draft. McNabb went 66th overall to the Sabres, and Deslauriers was taken 84th overall by the Kings.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Tanner Pearson (30th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (246), Ristolainen (174), Gorges (123)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (151), McCabe (99), Gorges (93)
Shots: Kane (209), Eichel (197), Ristolainen (169)
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: 4-5-1 (9), 28/33, 6/27, 21/28
51-60: 6-4-0 (12), 26/25, 6/25, 24/30
61-70: 2-7-1 (5), 31/39, 9/30, 24/29
OVERTIME RESULTS (6-6; 108-111 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)
Feb. 2 vs. NYR: L, 2-1 (GWG-Kreider)
Feb. 7 vs. SJS: W, 5-4 (GWG-Kane)
Feb. 28 vs. NSH: L, 5-4 (GWG-Forsberg)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-6; 68-64 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)
March 4 vs. TBL: L, 2-1 (GDG-Point)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Dmitry Kulikov … 1 game … 500 NHL games
Brian Gionta … 6 games … 1,000 NHL games
Goals
Tyler Ennis … 4 goals … 100 NHL goals
Assists
Brian Gionta … 3 assists … 300 NHL assists
Points
Evander Kane … 4 points … 300 NHL points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
