GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Thursday, March 16
Buffalo 0 at Los Angeles 2
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Lehner (34 saves/36 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 2/2; Shots: Los Angeles 36 – Buffalo 26
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 346)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 71 games
Johan Larsson (wrist, Jan. 3; injured reserve) – 35 games
William Carrier (knee, Feb.4; injured reserve) – 21 games
Kyle Okposo (ribs, March 4) – 7 games
Dmitry Kulikov (upper body, March 5) – 6 games
Justin Falk (calf, March 16) – 1 game
Justin Bailey (undisclosed, March 16) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/13: Recalled F Hudson Fasching from Rochester (AHL)
3/16: Recalled D Taylor Fedun from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Tuesday, March 28: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at DUCKS
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Ducks this season.
- Last meeting: Anaheim defeated Buffalo 5-2 in Buffalo on Feb. 7
- The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Ducks; 4-6-0 on the road
- This is the 34th game all-time between Buffalo and Anaheim; Buffalo has a 16-14-3 series record.
- The Sabres are 8-8-0 on the road against the Ducks all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-10-3 all-time on March 17.
- March 17, 1997: Donald Audette scores twice and Rob Ray fights Jeff Odgers to become the 30th player in NHL history to record 2,000 penalty minutes in his career during a 5-1 win at home against Boston.
- March 17, 2001: Martin Biron makes 42 saves and Chris Gratton scores the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win at Washington.
WHO’S HOT?
- Jack Eichel has not gone two games without a point since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. In the 21 games since, Eichel has totaled 27 points (8+19).
- Evander Kane has 22 points (13+9) in his last 25 games, including 11 goals in his last 17.
- Rasmus Ristolainen has a point in 14 of his last 21 games (2+13).
- Ryan O’Reilly has recorded eight points (3+7) in his last nine games.
- Matt Moulson has a point in four of his last six games (1+3).
- Robin Lehner has stopped 95 of 101 shots (.941) in his last three appearances.
SHUTTING OUT THE DUCKS
- The Sabres have shut out the Ducks seven times in the 33 all-time games between the clubs (Dominik Hasek-3, Martin Biron-2, Chad Johnson-1, Ryan Miller-1). This amounts to one shutout for every 4.71 meetings, the Sabres’ highest shutout-to-games ratio against any NHL team.
- This ratio is so much higher against the Ducks than the next closest opponent that the Ducks would have to score a goal in each of the next 26 meetings between the teams for the ratio to fall behind the next highest current ratio (Columbus, three shutouts in 25 games – 8.33 games per shutout).
- The Sabres’ last shutout against the Ducks occurred three meetings ago (Dec. 17, 2015 in Buffalo).
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 15th of a league-high 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, after the team’s 2-0 loss last night at Los Angeles. The Sabres are 6-6-3 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 ninth among all NHL skaters with 48 points (20+28) and leads the league with 199 shots on goal.
- Eichel leads the league in assists (19) and ranks third in points (27) since the beginning of February.
- Eichel has logged 33 points (12+21) in his last 29 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 .96 points per game rank him 12th among all players with at least 20 games played this season.
THE KANE EVENT
- Evander Kane has scored each of his 25 goals this season in his last 47 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 is tied for second in shots on goal (187).
- Kane’s current pace of .373 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).
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) |
.40 (33) |
.23 (19) |
| A/GP |
.40 (33) |
.24 (20) |
.56 (46) |
.39 (32) |
| P/GP |
.69 (57) |
.53 (43) |
.96 (79) |
.62 (51) |
| SOG/GP |
2.9 (238) |
2.1 (172) |
4.0 (326) |
2.3 (191) |
(82-game pace in parentheses)
THEY’VE GOT THE POWER
- The Sabres rank second in the league with a 23.4% 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 34th-best season by any team since the league began publishing the stat in 1987-88.
ASSIST-OLAINEN
Rasmus Ristolainen is 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)
- Buffalo Sabres: 23.4% PP% (2nd)
- Eichel: 4.0 S/GP (1st)
- Foligno: 252 hits (3rd)
- Kane: 22 EVG (T-10th), 3.6 S/GP (8th)
- O’Reilly: 21:38 TOI/GP (1st, forwards), 57.8 FO% (6th)
- Ristolainen: 23 PPA (T-1st), 26:59 TOI (4th), 154 BkS (7th), 24 PPP (T-8th), 38 A (6th, defensemen)
BUF-ANA Connections
Former Ducks:
- Dan Bylsma played for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim from 2000 to 2004. He had 32 points (10+22) in 209 games and was a member of the team that won the Western Conference after the 2002-03 season. Bylsma also began his coaching career during the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.
Justin Bailey:
- He and John Gibson were teammates for the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) during the 2012-13 season.
Jack Eichel:
- Played with John Gibson for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Cody Franson:
- Represented Team Canada alongside Andrew Cogliano at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
- Teammates with Korbinian Holzer for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons. He and Jonathan Bernier were teammates for the Maple Leafs from 2013-2015.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Ryan Getzlaf for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
Evander Kane:
- Represented Canada alongside Jonathan Bernier at the 2011 World Championship.
- Played with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on Team Canada at the 2012 World Championship. Kane and Perry were also on the 2010 World Championship squad,
- He and Antoine Vermette were teammates for Team Canada at the 2011 World Championship.
Robin Lehner:
- Played with Jakob Silfverberg for the Ottawa Senators during the 2012-13 season.
Jake McCabe:
- Played with John Gibson for the United States at the 2013 World Junior Championship and the 2014 World Championship.
Matt Moulson:
- Teammates with Jonathan Bernier for the Los Angeles Kings for part of the 2007-08 season.
- Played with Nate Thompson for the New York Islanders from 2008-2010.
Anders Nilsson:
- Represented Sweden alongside Jakob Silfverberg at the 2010 World Junior Championship.
Kyle Okposo:
- Played with Nate Thompson for the New York Islanders from 2008-2010 and for Team USA at the 2012 World Championship. Cam Fowler was also on the 2012 World Championship squad, as was John Gibson.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Played with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on Team Canada at the 2012 World Championship. They were also teammates for Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Perry and O’Reilly also represented Canada at the 2016 World Championship.
Sam Reinhart:
- Played with Nick Ritchie for Team Canada at the 2015 World Junior Championship.
- Teammates with Corey Perry for Team Canada at the 2016 World Championship.
Rasmus Ristolainen:
- Represented Finland alongside Sami Vatanen at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
NHL Draft:
- Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall), Robin Lehner (46th overall) and Jakob Silfverberg (39th overall) were second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Marcus Foligno (104th overall) and Sami Vatanen (106th overall) were both fourth-round selections in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Hampus Lindholm (6th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Nick Ritchie (10th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Foligno (252), Ristolainen (180), Gorges (127)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (154), McCabe (100), Gorges (95)
Shots: Kane (212), Eichel (199), Ristolainen (171)
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
71-80: 0-1-0 (0), 0/2, 0/2, 2/2
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 … 5 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
