GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Thursday, October 5
Montreal 3 at Buffalo 2 (SO)
Goals: Pominville (2)
Goalie: Lehner (43 saves/45 shots)
PP: 1/5; PK: 4/4; Shots: Buffalo 45 – Montreal 40
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 3)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Justin Falk (undisclosed, Oct. 5; injured reserve) – 1 game
Evan Rodrigues (hand, Oct. 5; injured reserve) – 1 game
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct.5) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/3: Placed F Evan Rodrigues and D Justin Falk on IR; Signed F Jack Eichel to an eight-year contract extension with an AAV of $10 million
10/4: Acquired D Zach Redmond from Montreal in exchange for F Nicolas Deslauriers; assigned Redmond to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Oct. 9: New Jersey at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 12: Buffalo at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 14: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 15: Buffalo at Anaheim, 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 17: Buffalo at Vegas, 10 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at ISLANDERS
- This is first of three meetings between the Sabres and Islanders this season.
- Last meeting: New York defeated Buffalo 4-2 in Buffalo on April 2
- Next meeting: Wednesday, Dec. 27 in New York
- The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Islanders; 6-4-0 on the road.
- This is the 166th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has an 80-62-23 series record.
- The Sabres are 36-35-11 on the road against the Islanders all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 7-2-1 all-time on October 7.
- October 7, 2011: Thomas Vanek (2+1) and Jason Pominville (1+2) each record three points as the Sabres top the Ducks 4-1 at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Buffalo had a franchise-record 10 players in the opening night lineup who weren’t on the team’s roster in 2016-17. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the most new players an NHL team has had in its opening night lineup since the 2011-12 Florida Panthers (11).
- Fourteen of the last 20 games between these teams have been decided by a single goal.
- Zemgus Girgensons has scored in each of his last two games against the Islanders.
- Matt Moulson has eight points (6+2) in 10 career games against the Islanders.
- Robin Lehner is 3-2-2 with a .918 save percentage in seven career games against the Islanders.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
- Tonight marks the 47th road-opener in Buffalo Sabres franchise history.
- Buffalo is 19-26-1 all-time in road-openers.
- The Sabres have previously opened their road schedule against the Islanders three times in franchise history: Oct. 13, 1979 (5-2 win), Oct. 6, 2007 (3-2 loss) and Oct. 13, 2008 (7-1 win)
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
The 23 players on the Sabres’ opening-day roster had combined to play 7,866 NHL games before Thursday’s opener vs. Montreal, 1,044 more than last year’s 23-man opening-day roster had between them. The average Sabres skater entering the 2017-18 season has played 45 more NHL games than his counterpart from last season.
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Sabres’ Opening-Day NHL Experience |
||
|
Season |
Total NHL GP |
Average GP/Player |
|
2017-18 |
7,866 |
342 |
|
2016-17 |
6,822 |
297 |
|
2015-16 |
5,914 |
257 |
|
2014-15 |
5,858 |
255 |
|
2013-14 |
5,516 |
240 |
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 10/6 games)
- Buffalo Sabres: 100.0% PK (T-1st), 45 S/GP (T-1st), 20.0% PP (T-9th)
- Kane: 11 S (1st)
- Lehner: .950 SV% (6th)
- Pominville: 2 G (T-5th), 1 PPG (T-3rd)
- Ristolainen: 26:58 TOI/GP (6th)
2017 PRESEASON
- Buffalo finished the preseason with a 1-4-1 record; 1-2-1 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.
- Jack Eichel led all Sabres with four points (1+3) in four preseason games.
- Linus Ullmark ranked in the top 10 in the preseason in both save percentage (4th, .956) and goals-against average (6th, 1.48) in 81 minutes of play.
2017-18 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:
- Six were originally drafted by the Sabres — four were first-round Buffalo selections (Girgensons, 2012; Ristolainen, 2013; Reinhart, 2014; Eichel, 2015) and two were second-round picks (Pominville, 2001; McCabe, 2012).
- Nine were acquired in trades: Beaulieu, Bogosian, Gorges, Kane, Larsson, Lehner, O’Reilly, Pominville, Scandella
- Eight were signed as free agents: Antipin, Griffith, Johnson, Josefson, Moulson, Okposo, Pouliot, Tennyson
- One was claimed off waivers: Nolan
- 13 played in Buffalo at some point last season: Bogosian, Eichel, Girgensons, Gorges, Kane, Larsson, Lehner, McCabe, Moulson, Okposo, O’Reilly, Reinhart, Ristolainen
- 10 are new to the Sabres this season: Antipin, Beaulieu, Griffith, Johnson, Josefson, Nolan, Pominville, Pouliot, Scandella, Tennyson
BUF-NYI CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Jaroslav Halak was a member of the Sabres for six days during the 2013-14 season. He was acquired from the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 28 before being dealt to the Washington Capitals on March 5, and did not appear in a game during his brief stint in Buffalo.
Former Islanders:
- Matt Moulson played for the Islanders from 2009-2013, registering 223 points (118+105) in 223 games.
- Kyle Okposo was selected by New York in the first round (7th overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft. Okposo spent nine years in the Islanders organization and compiled 369 points (139+230) in 529 games.
- Chad Johnson played for the Islanders during the 2014-15 season, he appeared in 19 games going 8-8-1 with a 3.08 goals-against average.
Local Players:
- Shane Prince was born in Rochester, New York.
Phil Housley:
- Played against Dennis Seidenberg (Germany) in the quarterfinals at the 2002 Winter Olympics. USA won 5-0 and Housley had an assist in the game.
Davis Payne
- Coached Jaroslav Halak with the St. Louis Blues from 2010-2012.
Zach Bogosian:
- Teammates with Andrew Ladd for the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets from 2010-2015.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Jaroslav Halak for the Montreal Canadiens from 2006-2010.
- Played with Thomas Greiss for the Worcester Sharks in 2006-07 season
Seth Griffith
- Played with Dennis Seidenberg in Boston from 2014-2016.
Evander Kane:
- Played with Andrew Ladd for the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets from 2010-2015. The two also represented Canada at the 2011 and 2012 World Championships.
Chad Johnson
- Played with Jonny Boychuck and Dennis Seidenberg in Boston for the 2013-14 season.
- Represented Canada alongside Calvin De Haan at the 2017 World Championship.
Robin Lehner
- Played with Shane Prince in Ottawa from 2014-2016 and for the Binghamton Senators in 2012-13.
Jason Pominville:
- Played with Cal Clutterbuck for the Minnesota Wild during the 2012-13 season.
Benoit Pouliot:
- Played with Cal Clutterbuck for the Minnesota Wild from 2007-11 and for the Houston Aeros from 2007-09.
- Teammates with Jordan Eberle in Edmonton from 2014-2017.
- Played with Jonny Boychuck and Dennis Seidenberg in Boston for the 2011-12 season.
- Played with Jaroslav Halak in Montreal during the 2009-10 season.
Marco Scandella:
- Played with Cal Clutterbuck for the Minnesota Wild from 2010-2013.
Matt Tennyson
- Was on the San Jose Sharks with Thomas Greiss during the 2012-13 season.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (5), Scandella (4), Kane/Pouliot (2)
Blocked Shots: Beaulieu (3), Josefson (3), McCabe (3)
Shots: Kane (11), Girgensons (6), Beaulieu/Ristolainen (4)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 0-0-1 (1), 2/3, 1/5, 4/4
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 108-11 all-time)
N/A
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-1; 69-65 all-time)
Oct. 5 vs. MTL: L, 3-2 (GDG-Drouin)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Evander Kane … 3 games … 500 career games played
Kyle Okposo … 5 games … 600 career games played
Jordan Nolan … 7 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Jason Pominville … 4 assists … T-8th in franchise history (Hawerchuk)
Matt Moulson … 7 assists … 200 career assists
Points
Sam Reinhart … 10 points … 100 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
