Game Preview: 3/9/19 at Colorado

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Thursday, March 7
Buffalo 4 at Chicago 5 (SO)
Goals: Sobotka, Montour, Bogosian, Okposo
Goalie: Hutton (41 saves/45 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 5/5; Shots: Chicago 45 – Buffalo 39

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 206)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Jake McCabe (upper body, March 4) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, March 12: Dallas at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 14: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 16: Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 17: St. Louis at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, March 20: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TODAY’S GAME
SABRES at AVALANCHE

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Avalanche this season.
• Last meeting: Colorado defeated Buffalo 6-1 in Buffalo on Oct. 11, 2018
• The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Avalanche; 3-5-2 on the road.
• This is the 145th game all-time between Buffalo and Colorado; Buffalo has a 62-58-24 series record.
• The Sabres are 24-35-13 on the road against the Avalanche all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-6-2 all-time on March 9.
• March 9, 1973: Tim Horton scores his first goal as a member of the Sabres in a 5-2 loss at Vancouver.
• March 9, 1980: Mike Ramsey makes his NHL debut, Rick Martin scores four goals and Gilbert Perreault notches five assists in a 9-4 win over St. Louis.
• March 9, 1988: Phil Housley scores two goals at Minnesota on his 24th birthday, including his 29th of the season, still the most in a season by any defenseman in Sabres history. (Housley’s career-high 31 goals in 1983-84 included seven scored while playing as a forward.)
• March 9, 2006: Derek Roy scores his second career hat trick six days after scoring his first in an 8-5 win vs. Tampa Bay.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Today’s game is Buffalo’s ninth and final afternoon game of the season. The Sabres are 6-2-0 in the first eight.
• With a Buffalo win today, the Sabres and Avalanche will have split the season series for the fourth consecutive season.
• Conor Sheary has totaled seven points (3+4) in his last seven games, including a point in each of his last three road contests (1+2).
• Scott Wilson enters today’s contest with assists in each of Buffalo’s last two games. A point today would give him the fifth three-game point streak of his career, tying his career high.
• Tage Thompson is expected to appear in his 100th NHL game today.

HOT AGAINST COLORADO

• Brandon Montour has totaled five points (2+3) in four career games against the Avalanche, tying as his highest total against any NHL team. His 1.25 points per game against Colorado rank as his highest per-game output against any opponent.
• Jack Eichel has recorded six points (2+4) in six career meetings with Colorado, including four points (1+3) in three road games.
• Carter Hutton is 5-2-0 in seven career appearances against the Avalanche, including wins in both of his two starts in Colorado.
• Rasmus Dahlin recorded his first NHL point (assist) in the first meeting between these teams this season on Oct. 11, 2018 in Buffalo.
• Casey Nelson scored his first NHL goal against the Avalanche on Feb. 11, 2018.

KILLING IT

• Buffalo entered play Friday ranked fifth in the league with a penalty kill percentage of 83.0 percent this season.
• The Sabres have allowed just three power-play goals in their last 12 games, going 22-for-25 on the penalty kill (88.0%) and scoring one shorthanded goal during that stretch.
• During those 25 penalty kills, the Sabres allowed just 37 power-play shots. Buffalo’s goaltenders have a save percentage of .919 while shorthanded during that span.
• Buffalo’s penalty kill percentage this season is the team’s best mark since the 2010-11 season (83.0%).

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS

• With his goal on March 2 at Toronto, Jason Pominville tied Don Luce for 10th-most regular-season goals in Sabres history (216). He now trails Rene Robert by six goals for ninth-most all-time.
• Pominville needs nine points to tie Luce for seventh-most in franchise history (526) and nine assists to tie him for seventh-most in that category (310). His 719 games played with the Sabres trail Luce by 47 for seventh-most all-time as well.

DYNAMIC DUO
Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner have both recorded a point on the same goal 31 times this season, making them the most productive Sabres duo since Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek combined on 39 goals in the 2011-12 season. At least one of the two has recorded a point on 99 of the team’s 190 goals this season (52.1%).

JACK ATTACK

• Entering play Friday, Jack Eichel was tied for 14th in the league with 20 points (9+11) in 19 games since the All-Star Break. His nine goals during that span tied for 10th.
• Eichel has totaled 72 points this season, setting a new career-high mark, also tying his previous high with 25 goals. He has joined Rick Martin and Thomas Vanek as the third player in franchise history to record at least 20 goals in each of his first four NHL seasons.
• With 47 assists so far this season, Eichel is the first Sabres player to record at least 45 assists in a season since Tim Connolly recorded 48 in 2009-10. The last Sabre to record at least 50 assists was Jason Pominville (53) in 2007-08.
• Eichel is currently on pace to record 42 even-strength assists this season. It would trail only LaFontaine’s franchise-record 52 in 1992-93.

DAH-LEAN ON ME

• Entering play Friday, Rasmus Dahlin led rookie defensemen and ranked second among all NHL rookies in points (37) and assists (29).
• With 37 points (8+29) through 67 games, Dahlin is scoring at a higher rate than he did in the Swedish Hockey League last season, when he totaled 20 points (7+13) in 41 games for Frölunda.
• Dahlin trails only Phil Housley (57 points in 1982-83) and Bobby Orr (38 points in 1966-67) for the most points ever recorded by an NHL defenseman before his 19th birthday.
• With seven multi-point games so far this season, Dahlin has recorded more multi-point games as an 18-year-old than all but two defensemen in NHL history: Housley (13) and Orr (8).
• Dahlin’s three game-winning goals this season are already the most ever recorded by a Sabres rookie defenseman. His total also ties for ninth-most by any Sabres rookie and eighth-most in a season by any defenseman in franchise history.

SKINNER, SKINNER, CHICKEN DINNER

• Jeff Skinner has scored 36 goals this season, becoming the fifth player ever to score at least 35 in his first season with the Sabres.
• His next goal will match his previous career high of 37 set in the 2016-17 season and his 38th goal would tie Gilbert Perreault (1970-71) and Ray Sheppard (1987-88) for third-most ever scored by a first-year Sabre.
• Skinner’s 28 even-strength goals are already the most ever recorded by player in his first year with the Sabres, breaking a record previously held by Danny Gare (26) since 1974-75.

LEADING THE WAY
Each of the Sabres’ top three scorers is currently on pace to shatter his previous personal best in points on the strength of career-best production at even strength:

SCORING WHEN IT COUNTS

• Jeff Skinner’s seven game-winning goals tied for third-most in the NHL this season entering play Friday. He is the first Sabres player with at least seven game-winners in a season since Derek Roy (9) in 2008-09 and is four shy of matching the single-season franchise record of 11 shared by Danny Gare (1979-80) and Alexander Mogilny (1992-93).
• Skinner was also tied for third in the league with three overtime goals this season. Skinner’s total matches the Sabres’ single-season record shared by Daniel Briere (2006-07) and Derek Roy (2009-10) and ties him for 10th-most career overtime goals in franchise history.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 3/8 games)

• Buffalo Sabres: 83.0% PK% (5th)
• Eichel: 257 S (5th)
• Ristolainen: 24:56 TOI/GP (8th)
• Skinner: 7 GWG (T-3rd), 3 OTG (T-3rd), 28 EVG (5th), 36 G (T-6th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (204), Girgensons (114), McCabe (96)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (108), Bogosian (104), McCabe (95)
Shots: Eichel (257), Skinner (222), Ristolainen (159)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 6-4-0 (12), 26/28, 8/38, 22/30
11-20: 6-2-2 (14), 35/27, 4/28, 26/29
21-30: 5-3-2 (12), 31/32, 5/28, 23/29
31-40: 4-4-2 (10), 24/27, 7/31, 27/29
41-50: 4-6-0 (8), 30/34, 1/25, 14/20
51-60: 3-6-1 (7), 26/38, 7/30, 19/22
61-70: 2-5-0 (4), 23/29, 6/21, 13/16

OVERTIME RESULTS (7-6; 120-127 all-time)
Oct. 27 at CBJ: L, 5-4 (GWG-Panarin, 0:31)
Oct. 30 vs. CGY: L, 2-1 (GWG-Gaudreau, 2:40)
Nov. 8 at MTL: W, 6-5 (GWG-Ristolainen, 1:38)
Nov. 19 at PIT: W, 5-4 (GWG-Eichel, 0:45)
Nov. 23 vs. MTL: W, 3-2 (GWG-Skinner, 3:06)
Nov. 27 vs. SJS: W, 3-2 (GWG-Skinner, 1:41)
Nov. 30 at FLA: L, 3-2 (GWG-Barkov, 2:26)
Dec. 4 vs. TOR: L, 4-3 (GWG-Matthews, 4:57)
Dec. 11 vs. LAK: W, 4-3 (GWG-Skinner, 1:49)
Dec. 29 vs. BOS: L, 3-2 (GWG-Kuraly, 3:44)
Jan. 16 at CGY: W, 4-3 (GWG-Eichel, 1:10)
Feb. 8 vs. CAR: L, 6-5 (GWG-Teravainen, 3:25)
March 1 vs. PIT: W, 4-3 (GWG-Sheary, 4:11)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (5-2; 75-68 all-time)
Nov. 10 vs. VAN: W, 4-3 (GDG-Mittelstadt)
Nov. 16 at WPG: W, 2-1 (GDG-Sheary)
Nov. 24 at DET: W, 3-2 (GDG-Reinhart)
Dec. 15 at WSH: L, 4-3 (GDG-Ovechkin)
Feb. 5 vs. MIN: W, 5-4 (GDG-Reinhart)
Feb. 21 at TBL: L, 2-1 (GDG-Stamkos)
March 7 at CHI: L, 5-4 (GDG-Kane)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Tage Thompson … 1 game … 100 career games played
Goals
Jason Pominville … 1 goal … 217 goals with Sabres (sole possession, 10th in franchise history)
Jack Eichel … 2 goals … 100 career goals
Jason Pominville … 9 goals … 300 career goals
Assists
Kyle Okposo … 1 assist … 300 career assists
Jeff Skinner … 3 assists … 200 career assists
Matt Hunwick … 7 assists … 100 career assists
Jason Pominville … 8 assists … 310 assists with Sabres (T-7th in franchise history)
Points
Sam Reinhart … 2 points … 200 career points 

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A