GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Thursday, October 12
Buffalo 2 at San Jose 3
Goals: Pominville (2)
Goalie: Lehner (23 saves/26 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 2/3; Shots: San Jose 26 – Buffalo 25
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 12)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Justin Falk (undisclosed, Oct. 5; injured reserve) – 4 games
Evan Rodrigues (hand, Oct. 5; injured reserve) – 4 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct.5) – 4 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, Oct. 21: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 24: Detroit at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at KINGS
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Kings this season.
- Last meeting: Los Angeles defeated Buffalo 2-0 in Los Angeles on March 16
- The Sabres are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Kings; 2-7-1 on the road
- This is the 122nd game all-time between Buffalo and Los Angeles; Buffalo has a 59-43-19 series record.
- The Sabres are 24-27-10 on the road against the Kings all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 8-9-1 all-time on October 14.
- October 14, 1971: Mike Robitaille scores his first goal as a member of the Sabres.
- October 14, 2006: Chris Drury records his first and only hat trick in a Sabres uniform in a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Tonight’s game is Buffalo’s second in a four-game road trip against Pacific Division opponents. The Sabres will visit Anaheim tomorrow night before visiting Vegas for the team’s first-ever meeting with the Golden Knights on Tuesday.
- Buffalo and Los Angeles have split the season series in each of the last four seasons.
- The Sabres are seeking their first road win against the Kings since their 4-2 victory on Oct. 8, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. All four of the team’s trips to Los Angeles since that win have been 2-0 Kings wins.
- Kyle Okposo has five assists in his last three games against the Kings.
- Jason Pominville has four points in his last three games against Los Angeles.
- Ryan O’Reilly has nine points (5+4) in his last eight games against the Kings.
- Chad Johnson is 2-0-0 in three appearances against the Kings with a .942 save percentage.
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
- With the exception of the 2011 NHL Premiere* meeting between these teams, the home team has won the last 14 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).
- Buffalo enters tonight’s game 0-5-1 in the team’s last six games in Los Angeles.
*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.
MULTI-GOAL GAMES
- The Sabres have had a multi-goal scorer in each of their first four games of the season (Pominville, Kane, Kane, Pominville).
- It marks the first time the team has had a player score at least two goals in four straight games since March 12 to 19, 2013 (Foligno, Stafford, Hodgson, Ott).
- With a multi-goal game tonight, the team would have a multi-goal scorer in five straight games for the first time since Jan.20 to Feb.1, 2007 (Briere, Drury, Hecht, Briere, Drury).
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s first of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which continues tomorrow night at Anaheim. The Sabres were 8-8-3 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 6-12-1 in the second game last season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back last season was: four points (2), three points (2), two points (8), one point (2) and zero points (5).
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 was 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 last 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 had played 45 more NHL games than his counterpart from last season.
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Sabres’ Opening-Day NHL Experience |
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| 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 10/13 games)
- Buffalo Sabres: 2 SHG (T-2nd), 92.8% PK (4th)
- Kane: 2 SHG (1st), 27 S (2nd), 4 G, (T-5th)
- O’Reilly: 63.9% FO% (8th)
- Pominville: 4 G (T-5th)
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-LAK CONNECTIONS
Former Kings:
- Matt Moulson spent two seasons with the Kings and recorded 10 points (6+4) in 29 games.
- Jordan Nolan was selected by the Kings in the seventh round (186th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. He went on to win two Stanley Cups and record 42 points (20+22) in 292 games for Los Angeles.
Local Products:
- Alex Iafallo was born in Eden, New York.
Nathan Beaulieu:
- Represented Canada alongside Tanner Pearson at the 2012 World Junior Championship.
Jack Eichel:
- Represented the United States at the 2015 World Championship with Trevor Lewis.
Josh Gorges:
- Teammates with Jeff Carter for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
- Teammates with Michael Cammalleri for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
Jacob Josefson:
- Teammates with Michael Cammalleri for the New Jersey Devils from 2014-2017.
Robin Lehner:
- Played alongside Jake Muzzin for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) during the 2009-10 season.
Jake McCabe:
- Was a member of the United States NTDP during the 2009-10 season with Nick Shore and Derek Forbort.
Matt Moulson:
- His is the brother-in-law of Jonathan Quick.
- Was a member of the Los Angeles Kings with Michael Cammalleri during the 2007-08 season.
- Played with Darcy Kuemper for the Minnesota Wild during part of the 2013-14 season.
Jordan Nolan:
- Played alongside Jake Muzzin for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) during the 2009-10 season.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- Teammates with Kyle Clifford for Team Canada at the 2009 World U18 Championship.
- Played with Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship.
Kyle Okposo:
- Played alongside Trevor Lewis at the 2007 World Junior Championship for the United States.
- Represented the United States at the 2009 World Championship alongside Dustin Brown.
Jason Pominville:
- Represented the United States alongside Dustin Brown at the 2008 World Championship.
- Played with Darcy Kuemper for the Minnesota Wild from 2012-2017. Christian Folin was also on the team from 2013-2017.
Benoit Pouliot:
- Teammates with Michael Cammalleri for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2011.
Marco Scandella:
- Played with Darcy Kuemper for the Minnesota Wild from 2012-2017. Christian Folin was also on the team from 2013-2017.
NHL Draft:
- Jason Pominville (55th overall) and Michael Cammalleri (49th overall) were both selected in the second round of the 2001 NHL Draft.
- Benoit Pouliot (4th overall) and Anze Kopitar (11th overall) were first-round picks in the 2005 NHL Draft.
- Kyle Okposo (7th overall) and Trevor Lewis (17th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
- 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.
- Jordan Nolan and Nic Dowd were both seventh-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft. Nolan went off the bard at 186th overall and Dowd was the 198th overall pick.
- Johan Larsson (56th overall) and Tyler Toffoli (47th overall) were both second-round picks in the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Tanner Pearson (30th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Adrian Kempe (29th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2014 NHL Draft
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Kane (10), Ristolainen (10), Pouliot (9)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (6), Ristolainen (6), Gorges (5)
Shots: Kane (27), Ristolainen (13), Okposo (11)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 0-3-1 (1), 9/18, 2/16, 13/14
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
Kyle Okposo … 2 games … 600 career games played
Jordan Nolan … 6 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Jason Pominville … 3 assists … T-8th in franchise history (Hawerchuk)
Matt Moulson … 7 assists … 200 career assists
Points
Sam Reinhart … 10 points … 100 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Evander Kane … 500th NHL game … Oct. 12 at SJS
