GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Saturday, October 7
Buffalo 3 at NY Islanders 6
Goals: Kane (2), Eichel
Goalie: Lehner (12 saves/16 shots)/Johnson (15 saves/16 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 3/3; Shots: NY Islanders 33 – Buffalo 29
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 6)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Justin Falk (undisclosed, Oct. 5; injured reserve) – 2 games
Evan Rodrigues (hand, Oct. 5; injured reserve) – 2 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct.5) – 2 games
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
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.
Friday, Oct. 20: Vancouver at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
DEVILS at SABRES
- This is first of three meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season.
- Last meeting: New Jersey defeated Buffalo 2-1 in New Jersey on Feb. 6
- Next meeting: Friday, Dec. 29 in New Jersey
- The Sabres are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Devils; 4-5-1 at home.
- This is the 152nd game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 74-51-26 series record.
- The Sabres are 40-25-11 at home against the Devils all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 4-10-2 all-time on October 9.
- October 9, 1995: Michael Peca scores his first goal as a member of the Sabres in a 5-3 loss at Boston.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- With 12 shootouts in the 33 matchups since the beginning of 2007-08 season, the Sabres have played more shootouts against the Devils than any other non-divisional opponent, going 7-5 in those shootouts.
- Buffalo needs a win today to avoid its first five-game home losing streak against New Jersey since the Devils won six in a row in Buffalo from March 9, 1997 to Jan. 6, 2000.
- Nathan Beaulieu has an assist in each of his last three games against the Devils.
- Ryan O’Reilly has five points (2+3) in his last five games against New Jersey.
A NEW LOOK
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).
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)
- Buffalo Sabres: 100.0% PK (T-1st), 37 S/GP (T-7th)
- Kane: 2 SHG (1st), 19 S (T-1st), 2 G, (T-7th), 4 PTS (T-10th)
- Pominville: 2 G (T-7th), 1 PPG (T-5th)
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-NJD CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Drew Stafford was selected by the Sabres in the first round (13th overall) in the 2004 NHL Draft. He played with the Sabres from 2006-2015 before being traded to the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 11, 2015. Stafford played in 563 regular season games with Buffalo, tallying 322 points (145+177) and wearing the “A” from 2011-2014.
Former Devils:
- Phil Housley played in New Jersey during the 1995-96 season for 22 games, compiling 16 points (1+15).
- Jacob Josefson played for the Devils from 2010-2017, tallying 60 points (18+42) in 276 games. Josefson was selected by the Devils in the first round (20th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft.
Jason Botterill:
- Ben Lovejoy played in the Penguins organization from 2007-2013 and 2014-2016 while Botterill was assistant general manager.
Zach Bogosian:
- Played on the United States’ 2009 World Championship team with Drew Stafford.
Jack Eichel:
- Played with John Moore for the United States at the 2015 World Championship.
- Played with Will Butcher for the United States at the 2014 and 2015 World Junior Championships. Steven Santini was also on the team in 2014.
Seth Griffith:
- Was a member of the 2016-17 Toronto Maple Leafs with Brian Boyle.
- Was a member of the 2015-16 Boston Bruins with Jimmy Hayes.
Chad Johnson:
- Played on the New York Rangers with Brian Boyle from 2009-2011.
Jacob Josefson:
- Represented Team Sweden alongside Marcus Johansson at the World Junior Championship in 2009 and 2010. The two also played together at the in the Under-18 World Championship in 2008 and the Under-17 World Championship in 2007.
Evander Kane:
- Was a member of Team Canada with Travis Zajac at the 2011 World Championship.
Jake McCabe:
- Represented the United States alongside Keith Kinkaid and Steven Santini at the 2016 World Championship.
- Represented the United States alongside Jimmy Hayes at the 2014 World Championship.
Matt Moulson:
- Played in the Los Angeles Kings organization with Brian Boyle from 2007 to 2009.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Was a member of Team Canada with Taylor Hall for the 2013, 2015 and 2016 World Championships.
Kyle Okposo:
- Played alongside Andy Greene for the United States at the 2010 World Championship.
- Represented the United States with Kyle Palmieri at the 2012 World Championship.
- Played for the United States at the 2009 World Championship team with Drew Stafford.
Benoit Pouliot:
- Was a member of the 2013-14 New York Rangers with Brian Boyle and John Moore.
- Played with Taylor Hall on the Edmonton Oilers from 2014 to 2016.
Sam Reinhart:
- Represented Canada with Taylor Hall at the 2016 World Championship.
Marco Scandella:
- Represented Team Canada with Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique at the 2010 World Junior Championship.
Matt Tennyson:
- Played parts of two seasons from 2014 to 2016 with Mirco Muller in the San Jose organization.
NHL Draft:
- Marco Scandella (55th overall) and Jimmy Hayes (60th overall) were both drafted in the second round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
- Evander Kane (4th overall), Jacob Josefson (20th overall), John Moore (21st overall), Marcus Johansson (24th overall) and Kyle Palmieri (26th overall) were all first-round selections in the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Nathan Beaulieu (17th overall) and Stefan Noesen (21st overall) were both drafted in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft.
- Jake McCabe (44th overall) and Damon Severson (60th overall) were both selected in the second round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Mirco Muller (18th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
- Jack Eichel (2nd overall) and Pavel Zacha (6th overall) were both first-round selections in the 2015 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Scandella (7), Pouliot (6), Josefson/Larsson/Ristolainen (3)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (5), Josefson (4), Beaulieu/McCabe (3)
Shots: Kane (19), Girgensons (8), Eichel/Ristolainen (6)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 0-1-1 (1), 5/9, 1/9, 7/7
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 … 2 games … 500 career games played
Kyle Okposo … 4 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
