Game Preview: 1/20/18 vs. DAL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Thursday, January 18
Buffalo 3 at NY Rangers 4
Goals: Okposo, Falk, Ristolainen
Goalie: Lehner (30 saves/34 shots)
PP: 2/4; PK: 2/2; Shots: Buffalo 37 – NY Rangers 34

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 165)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Victor Antipin (illness, Dec. 29) – 8 games
Jacob Josefson (lower body, Jan. 11; injured reserve) – 2 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Jan. 11; injured reserve) – 2 games
Nathan Beaulieu (illness, Jan. 18) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/17: Recalled D Casey Nelson from Rochester (AHL)
1/18: Activated D Victor Antipin from IR
1/19: Recalled F Nicholas Baptiste from Rochester (AHL); Placed F Zach Bogosian on IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Jan. 22: Buffalo at Calgary, 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 23: Buffalo at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 25: Buffalo at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 30: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 1: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TODAY’S GAME
STARS at SABRES

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Stars this season.
• Last meeting: Dallas defeated Buffalo 5-1 in Dallas on Nov. 4
• The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Stars; 7-2-1 at home.
• This is the 122nd game all-time between Buffalo and Dallas; Buffalo has a 56-48-17 series record.
• The Sabres are 33-15-11 at home against the Stars all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 9-9-1 all-time on January 20.
• January 20, 1972: Don Luce scores the game’s only goal as Roger Crozier (29 saves) and Dunc Wilson (36 saves) combine to stop 65 of 66 shots in a 1-0 Sabres win vs. Vancouver.
• January 20, 2013: Thomas Vanek records five points (2+3) and Steve Ott scores a goal in his Sabres debut in a 5-2 Sabres win vs. Philadelphia.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Jack Eichel enters today’s game with three straight multi-point games for the first time in his career (3+4).
• Kyle Okposo has also recorded at least two points in each of his last three games (2+5) and is seeking his first career four-game multi-point game streak. Okposo has recorded 13 points (3+10) in his last 13 games.
• Ryan O’Reilly has recorded five points (2+3) in his last four games.
• Rasmus Ristolainen has eight points (3+5) in his last eight games, dating back to Dec. 29, despite getting a game misconduct after just 5:43 of ice time in one of those games. Ristolainen’s eight points during that span tied for third among NHL defensemen entering play Friday.

HOME SWEET HOME

• Kyle Okposo enters today’s game with points in each of his last four home games, having totaled eight points (1+7) in those four games. Okposo has 16 points (4+12) in 20 total home games this season.
• Ryan O’Reilly also has points in each of his last four home games (2+5) and now has 12 points (3+9) in 20 home games this season.
• Jack Eichel has multi-point games in four of the team’s last six home games, totaling 11 points (8+3) in those six games. Eichel has recorded 19 points (11+8) in 20 home games this season.
• Evander Kane is at a point-per-game pace at home dating back to Oct. 28 with 16 points (6+10) in 16 home games during that stretch. Kane is tied with Eichel for the team lead with 19 total points (8+11) in 20 home games this season.

*Home totals include the 2018 NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field in New York

JACK ATTACK

• Jack Eichel has totaled 19 points (10+9) in his last 13 games, dating back to Dec. 15.
• Eichel ranked in the top 10 in the league in goals (4th, 10), points (6th, 19), even-strength goals (T-1st, 9), even-strength points (T-5th, 14) and shots (T-2nd, 60) during that stretch entering play Friday.
• Eichel scored at least two goals in four of those 12 games and entered play Friday tied for fifth in the league with four multi-goal games this season, just two off the league lead.

I LIKE EICH

• Jack Eichel is currently on pace to shatter his personal bests in goals (24), assists (33) and points (57) on the strength of improved production at even strength (T-7th in NHL in ES goals, T-12th in ES points entering play Friday).
• With his 17th even-strength goal in his 44th game of the season on Jan. 11 vs. Columbus, Eichel surpassed his career-best total from 2015-16 (81 games).
• Eichel’s 33 even-strength points through 45 games match his total from last season (61 games) and are just two shy of his career-best total from 2015-16 (81 games).

SETTING THEM UP AND KNOCKING THEM DOWN

• Of Jack Eichel’s 43 points so far this season, 23 have been goals or primary assists recorded during 5-on-5 play (excludes 6-on-5 situations).
• Through 45 games, Eichel’s 23 primary points (12+11) during 5-on-5 play have already surpassed his 61-game total from last season (11+10) and are just one shy of his total from his 81-game rookie season (12+12).

*All primary point stats via NaturalStatTrick.com

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 1/19 games)

• Eichel: 17 EVG (T-7th), 157 S (T-9th)
• Kane: 3 SHG (T-2nd), 3 SHP (T-4th), 183 S (5th)
• O’Reilly: 658 FOW (1st), 61.2% FO% (1st), 1,076 FO (2nd)
• Ristolainen: 26:11 TOI/GP (4th)

BUF-DAL CONNECTIONS

Chad Johnson:

• Teammates with Martin Hanzal for the Phoenix Coyotes during the 2012-13 season.

Evander Kane:

• Won a gold medal with Jamie Benn for Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship. They were also teammates for Canada at the 2012 World Championship.
• Teammates with Jason Spezza for Team Canada at the 2011 World Championship.

Johan Larsson:

• Represented Sweden alongside John Klingberg at the 2011 World Junior Championship.

Robin Lehner:

• Played with Jason Spezza for the Ottawa Senators from 2010-2014.
• Represented Sweden alongside John Klingberg at the 2011 World Junior Championship.

Kyle Okposo:

• Represented the United States alongside Ben Bishop at the 2010 World Championship.

Ryan O’Reilly:

• Teammates with Jamie Benn for Canada at the 2012 World Championship.
• Represented Team Canada at the 2013 World Championship with Dan Hamhuis.
• Teammates with Dan Hamhuis, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship.

Jason Pominville:

• Played with Martin Hanzal for the Minnesota Wild during part of the 2016-17 season.

Benoit Pouliot:

• Teammates with Tyler Seguin for the Boston Bruins during the 2011-12 season.

Rasmus Ristolainen:

• Teammates with Esa Lindell for Team Finland at the 2012 World U18 Championship and the 2016 World Championship.

Marco Scandella:

• Played with Martin Hanzal for the Minnesota Wild during part of the 2016-17 season.

NHL Draft:

• The first round of the 2005 NHL Draft saw both Benoit Pouliot (4th overall) and Martin Hanzal (17th overall) go off the board.
• Johan Larsson (56th overall), Tyler Pitlick (31st overall) and Stephen Johns (60th overall) were all taken in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) was selected one pick after Radek Faksa (13th overall) in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Jake McCabe (44th overall) and Devin Shore (61st overall) were both selected in the second round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Nicholas Baptiste (69th overall) and Mattias Janmark (79th overall) were both third-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (103), McCabe (98), Kane (93)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (69), Scandella (68), Ristolainen (58)
Shots: Kane (183), Eichel (157), O’Reilly (114)

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: 2-6-2 (6), 18/31, 2/32, 24/32
31-40: 3-3-4 (9), 22/27, 3/22, 21/26
41-50: 1-5-0 (2), 16/26, 4/18, 10/17

OVERTIME RESULTS (2-8; 110-119 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)
Dec. 8 at CHI: L, 3-2 (GWG-Forsling)
Dec. 10 at STL: L, 3-2 (GWG-Tarasenko)
Dec. 15 vs. CAR: L, 5-4 (GWG-Slavin)
Dec. 27 at NYI: L, 3-2 (GWG-Barzal)
Dec. 29 at NJD: W, 4-3 (GWG-Ristolainen)
Jan. 1 vs. NYR: L, 3-2 (GWG-Miller)

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 … 1 home win … 1,000 regular-season home wins
Games Played
Benoit Pouliot … 6 games … 600 career games played
Assists
Rasmus Ristolainen … 1 assist … 100 career assists
Jack Eichel … 10 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Zemgus Girgensons … 7 points … 100 career points
Ryan O’Reilly … 9 points … 400 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Robin Lehner … 200th NHL game … Jan. 18 at NY Rangers