Game Preview: 12/1/17 vs. PIT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, November 28
Tampa Bay 2 at Buffalo 0
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Lehner (24 saves/26 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 2/3; Shots: Buffalo 34 – Tampa Bay 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 124)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct.5; injured reserve) – 25 games
Taylor Fedun (lower body, Nov. 17; injured reserve) – 7 games
Jacob Josefson (ankle, Nov. 28) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/24: Activated D Rasmus Ristolainen from IR; Assigned D Casey Nelson to Rochester (AHL)
11/26: Placed F Seth Griffith on waivers
11/27: Assigned F Seth Griffith to Rochester (AHL)
11/30: Recalled G Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL); Activated D Matt Tennyson; Placed Tennyson on waivers
12/1: Assigned D Matt Tennyson and G Linus Ullmark to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Dec. 2: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 5: Buffalo at Colorado, 9 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 8: Buffalo at Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 10: Buffalo at St. Louis, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 12: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
PENGUINS at SABRES

• This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Penguins this season.
• Next meeting: Saturday, Dec. 2 in Pittsburgh
• Last meeting: Pittsburgh defeated Buffalo 5-4 (OT) in Pittsburgh on Nov. 14
• The Sabres are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Penguins; 2-8-0 at home.
• This is the 187th game all-time between Buffalo and Pittsburgh; Buffalo has a 65-78-43 series record.
• The Sabres are 41-29-22 at home against the Penguins all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 11-5-3 all-time on December 1.
• December 1, 1993: Dominik Hasek stops 33 Tampa Bay shots to record his second of 55 regular-season shutouts as a member of the Sabres in a 3-0 win against the Lightning.
• December 1, 2006: The Sabres top the Rangers 4-3 in a shootout to cap an 11-game unbeaten streak (9-0-2) against New York.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• If he dresses tonight, Zemgus Girgensons will appear in his 300th NHL game.
• Kyle Okposo has more goals (14) and points (32) against the Penguins than any other opponent.
• Evander Kane has 15 points (5+10) in his last 15 games against Pittsburgh, dating back to the beginning of the 2011-12 season.
• Ryan O’Reilly has tallied six points (2+4) in his last six games against the Penguins.
• Sam Reinhart has at least a point in each of his last three games against Pittsburgh, having totaled five points (2+3) in those games.
• Jack Eichel has three points (2+1) in three games against the Penguins since the beginning of last season.

HOME-AND-HOME

• Tonight’s game is the first in a home-and-home series between the Sabres and Penguins that concludes tomorrow night in Pittsburgh.
• The Sabres and Penguins have previously played 10 home-and-home series, with the Sabres going 7-1-2 (one tie) in the home games and 3-3-4 (four ties) in the road games. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (1), three points (5), two points (3), one point (1), zero points (0).
• The Sabres have played in 161 previous home-and-home series in franchise history, going 91-47-23 (.637) in the home games and 56-76-29 (.438) in the road games in previous series. The team is 70-62-29 (.525) all-time in the first game of these series and 77-61-23 (.550) in the second. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (31), three points (24), two points (66), one point (16), zero points (24).
• Buffalo’s last home-and-home series sweep came in the 2014-15 season, as the Sabres beat the Canadiens on Nov. 28 and 29, 2014.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s seventh of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which continues tomorrow night at Pittsburgh. The Sabres are 2-4-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 2-3-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is: four points (0), three points (0), two points (4), one point (1) and zero points (1).

THE KANE EVENT

• Evander Kane has scored 12 goals in his first 25 games played this season, tying him for 12th in the league.
• Of his 12 goals, eight have come at even strength and three were shorthanded goals. Kane’s eight even-strength goals tie for 21th in the league.
• Since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Kane has scored 40 goals in 95 games. Those 40 goals tie for 22nd in the league during that span and his 33 even-strength goals tie for 10th.

*All rankings before 11/30 games

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 11/30 games)

• Eichel: 2 SHP (T-4th)
• Kane: 3 SHG (T1st), 3 SHP (T-1st), 117 S (T-1st)
• O’Reilly: 385 FOW (1st), 627 FO (2nd), 61.4% FO% (2nd)
• Ristolainen: 26:58 TOI/GP (3rd)

BUF-PIT CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:

• Chad Ruhwedel spent four seasons with the Sabres and posted two assists in 33 games from 2012-2016.

Former Penguins:

• Matt Moulson was drafted by the Penguins in the ninth round (263rd overall) of 2003 NHL Draft but never suited up for Pittsburgh.

Victor Antipin:

• Represented Russia alongside Evgeni Malkin at the 2015 World Championship.

Justin Falk:

• Played with Carl Hagelin for the New York Rangers during the 2013-14 season.

Josh Gorges:

• He and Justin Schultz are both from Kelowna, British Columbia.
• Played with Sidney Crosby for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.

Johan Larsson:

• Represented Sweden alongside Patric Hornqvist at the 2012 World Championship.

Jake McCabe:

• Played with Justin Schultz for the University of Wisconsin (WCHA) during the 2011-12 season.

Kyle Okposo:

• Represented the United States alongside Ian Cole at the 2008 World Junior Championship.

Ryan O’Reilly:

• Played with Greg McKegg for the Erie Otters (OHL) during the 2008-09 season.
• Teammates with Justin Schultz for Team Canada at the 2013 World Championship.
• Represented Canada alongside Sidney Crosby at the 2015 World Championship and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
• He and Matt Hunwick were teammates for the Colorado Avalanche from 2010-2014.

Jason Pominville:

• Represented the United States alongside Phil Kessel at the 2008 World Championship.

Benoit Pouliot:

• Represented Canada alongside Kris Letang at the 2006 World Junior Championship.
• Played with Carl Hagelin for the New York Rangers during the 2013-14 season.

Rasmus Ristolainen:

• Represented Finland alongside Olli Maata at the 2012 and 2013 World Junior Championships, as well as the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

NHL Draft:

• Benoit Pouliot (4th overall) was taken three picks after Sidney Crosby (1st overall) in the first round of the 2005 NHL Draft.
• Kyle Okposo (7th overall by the New York Islanders) and Phil Kessel (5th overall by Boston) were both first-round selections in the 2006 NHL Draft.
• Marco Scandella (55th overall) and Justin Schultz (43rd overall) were both selected in the second round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
• Ryan O’Reilly (33rd overall by Colorado), Robin Lehner (46th overall by Ottawa) and Brian Dumoulin (51st overall by Carolina) were all second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Olli Maata (22nd overall) were both first-round picks in the 2012 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (48), Kane (47), Falk/McCabe (44)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (37), Scandella (36), Ristolainen (27)
Shots: Kane (117), Eichel (81), O’Reilly (63)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 3-5-2 (8), 26/36, 5/36, 29/35
11-20: 2-6-2 (6), 20/35, 5/28, 23/27
21-30: 1-4-0 (2), 9/14, 0/14, 8/12

OVERTIME RESULTS (1-3; 109-114 all-time)
Oct. 17 at VGK: L, 5-4 (GWG-Perron)
Oct. 21 at BOS: W, 5-4 (GWG-O’Reilly)
Nov. 11 at MTL: L, 2-1 (GWG-Pacioretty)
Nov. 14 at PIT: L, 5-4 (GWG-Sheary)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-1; 69-65 all-time)
Oct. 5 vs. MTL: L, 3-2 (GDG-Drouin)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Wins
Buffalo Sabres … 4 home wins … 1,000 regular-season home wins
Games Played
Zemgus Girgensons … 1 game … 300 career games played
Marco Scandella … 2 games … 400 career games played
Ryan O’Reilly … 5 games … 600 career games played
Sam Reinhart … 8 games … 200 career games played
Assists
Matt Moulson … 7 assists … 200 career assists
Rasmus Ristolainen … 8 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Marco Scandella … 6 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A