Tag Archives: Colorado Avalanche

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Sunday, February 23
Winnipeg 1 at Buffalo 2
Goals: Okposo (2)
Goalie: Johansson (25 saves/26 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Winnipeg 26 – Buffalo 25

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 302)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 62 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 46 games
Tage Thompson (shoulder, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 42 games
Linus Ullmark (lower body, Jan. 30; injured reserve) – 12 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/21: Placed D Zach Bogosian on unconditional waivers; Assigned F Scott Wilson to Rochester (AHL)
2/24: Acquired F Wayne Simmonds from New Jersey in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft; Acquired F Dominik Kahun from Pittsburgh in exchange for F Evan Rodrigues and F Conor Sheary

UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, Feb. 28: Buffalo at Vegas, 10 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 29: Buffalo at Arizona, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, March 3: Buffalo at Winnipeg, 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 5: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 7: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’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 Feb. 4.
• The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Avalanche; 3-5-2 on the road.
• This is the 147th game all-time between Buffalo and Colorado; Buffalo has a 62-60-24 series record.
• The Sabres are 24-36-13 on the road against the Avalanche all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 9-10-6 all-time on February 26.
• February 26, 1987: Wilf Paiement records the 99th hat trick in Sabres history in a 4-3 win against the visiting St. Louis Blues.
• February 26, 1995: Dominik Hasek plays his 100th game as a member of the Sabres against the New York Rangers.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Jake McCabe has totaled three points (1+2) in three games against the Avalanche since the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
• Michael Frolik has recorded eight points (2+6) in his last nine visits to Colorado.
• Jack Eichel has totaled four points (1+3) in four career road games against the Avalanche.
• Dominik Kahun tied his career high with three points (0+3) in his last meeting with the Avalanche on Jan. 10 in Colorado.
• Kyle Okposo enters today’s game on his first four-game point streak (4+1) since November 2017. With a point tonight, he would have points in at least five consecutive games for the first time since he tallied points in seven straight from Feb. 4 to 14, 2017.
• Rasmus Dahlin has posted at least a point in 14 of his last 18 games (2+14) dating back to Jan. 4.
• Rasmus Ristolainen has recorded six assists and a plus-8 rating in Buffalo’s last five games.

RETURN OF THE ROOKIE

• Victor Olofsson, who missed 15 games with a lower body injury from Jan. 4 to Feb. 11, has recorded five points (3+2) in five games since returning from injury.
• Entering play Tuesday, Olofsson ranked second among all NHL rookies with 19 goals this season. His .85 points per game led all rookies with more than one game played.
• Olofsson’s 40 points in 47 games so far this season (.85 points per game) this season ranks as the seventh-best scoring rate all-time among Sabres rookies with at least 15 games played:
  • Rick Martin (1971-72): 1.01
  • Gilbert Perreault (1970-71): .92
  • Ray Sheppard (1987-88): .88
  • Dave Andreychuk (1982-83): .86
  • Phil Housley (1982-83): .86
  • Christian Ruuttu (1986-87): .86
  • Victor Olofsson (2019-20): .85

TEEN TITAN

• Rasmus Dahlin has totaled 81 points (13+68) through his first 134 NHL games, including 37 points (4+33) in 52 games this season.
• With his assist on Feb. 18 at Ottawa, Dahlin passed Ray Bourque (79) for the second-most points recorded by an NHL defenseman before his 20th birthday. He now trails only Phil Housley (132) for the most points ever recorded by a teenage defenseman.
• Entering play Tuesday, Dahlin’s .60 points per game in his career ranked as the 12th-highest rate among active NHL defensemen with at least 10 career games played. His .71 points per game so far this season represent the best single-season scoring rate by a Sabres defenseman with more at least 15 games played since Phil Housley (1.01) in 1989-90.

SETTING THE PACE

• Jack Eichel is currently on pace to finish the season with 46 goals and 102 points, which would be the highest goal and point totals by a Sabre since Pat LaFontaine (53+95) and Alexander Mogilny (76+51) in 1992-93.
• LaFontaine (83 in 1992-93), Mogilny (78 in 1992-93) and Gilbert Perreault (70 in 1975-76 and 67 in 1979-80) are the only Sabres ever to have recorded more even-strength points in a season than the 66 Eichel is currently on pace for.
• Sam Reinhart scored his 20th goal of the season in his 55th game on Feb. 7 at NY Rangers, surpassing the 2015-16 season as his previous quickest season to 20 goals (69 games). Reinhart is currently on pace to set career-high totals in both goals (29) and points (66).
• Despite missing 10 games due to injury, Rasmus Dahlin is currently on pace to record 51 points this season, which would make him the Sabres’ first 50-point defenseman since Garry Galley (54) in 1995-96.
• Victor Olofsson, who has missed 15 games due to injury this season, is on pace for 57 points. If he maintains his current pace, his output will supplant Eichel and Derek Plante as the seventh-most prolific rookie season in Sabres history. It would be the best since Ray Sheppard’s 65 points in 1987-88. He is on pace for 27 goals, which would rank him sixth among all rookies in franchise history.

JACK ATTACK

• Jack Eichel has been held without a point in just five of his last 43 games played. During that stretch, which began with a four-goal performance vs. Ottawa on Nov. 16, Buffalo’s captain has totaled 58 points (27+31) in 43 appearances, also missing one game due to injury. Only Artemi Panarin (62) had more points during that stretch entering play Tuesday.
• With an assist on Feb. 11 vs. Detroit, Eichel became the 14th player ever to record 70 points in consecutive seasons at least once as a member of the Sabres. He needs three points to become just the ninth player in franchise history to record 80 points in back-to-back seasons at least once. He would join Danny Gare, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, Rick Martin, Alexander Mogilny, Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Pierre Turgeon.
• With his 40th assist on Feb. 13 vs. Columbus, Eichel became the first Sabres player to record 30 goals and 40 assists in a season since Jason Pominville (30+43) in 2011-12. He became the 16th different player in franchise history to accomplish this feat at least once.

POINTS IN BUNCHES

• Jack Eichel has recorded 20 multi-point games this season, ranking as the 11th-most in the NHL before Tuesday’s games. The Sabres are 15-3-2 (.800) in those games.
• Entering play Tuesday, Eichel’s seven multi-goal games tied for fifth-most in the league and his 11 multi-assist games tied for 10-most.
• Sam Reinhart ranks second on the Sabres with 13 multi-point games this season. The team is 10-2-1 this season (.808) and 41-7-8 (.804) in his career when he records at least two points.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 2/25 games)

• Eichel: 3 OTG (T-2nd), 9 GWG (T-2nd), 35 G (T-5th), 24 EVG (T-6th), 26 PPP (T-6th), 77 PTS (T-7th), 50 EVP (T-8th)
• Olofsson: 11 PPG (T-5th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (179), Girgensons (99), McCabe (81)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (81), Ristolainen (70), Jokiharju (56)
Shots: Eichel (206), Skinner (156), Reinhart (127)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 8-1-1 (17), 38/24, 12/39, 23/30
11-20: 2-6-2 (6), 21/35, 2/26, 21/29
21-30: 3-4-3 (8), 34/34, 4/33, 23/32
31-40: 4-5-1 (9), 24/32, 4/23, 23/30
41-50: 5-5-0 (10), 30/32, 7/29, 21/29
51-60: 5-4-1 (11), 28/33, 5/23, 13/17
61-70: 2-0-0 (4), 7/3, 2/6, 3/3

OVERTIME RESULTS (6-6; 126-134 all-time)
Oct. 7 at CBJ: L, 4-3 (Texier, 2:08)
Oct. 9 vs. MTL: W, 5-4 (Johansson, 1:30)
Oct. 22 vs. SJS: W, 4-3 (Eichel, 3:13)
Nov. 14 vs. CAR: L, 5-4 (Hamilton, 2:28)
Nov. 27 vs. CGY: L, 3-2 (Lindholm, 1:17)
Nov. 30 at TOR: L, 2-1 (Tavares, 1:45)
Dec. 7 at VAN: L, 6-5 (Miller, 3:21)
Dec. 8 at EDM: W, 3-2 (Miller, 1:13)
Dec. 14 at NYI: L, 3-2 (Beauvillier, 3:04)
Jan. 2 vs. EDM: W, 3-2 (Eichel, 1:09)
Feb. 1 vs. CBJ: W, 2-1 (Eichel, 0:36)
Feb. 13 vs. CBJ: W, 4-3 (Olofsson, 2:44)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-2; 76-71 all-time)
Oct. 11 vs. FLA: W, 3-2 (GDG-Eichel)
Oct. 28 vs. ARI: L, 3-2 (GDG-Schmaltz)
Feb. 6 vs. DET: L, 4-3 (GDG-Larkin)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Jimmy Vesey … 2 games … 300 career games played
Colin Miller … 4 games … 300 career games played
Kyle Okposo … 7 games … 800 career games played
Sam Reinhart … 7 games … 400 career games played
Goals
Kyle Okposo … 4 goals … 200 career goals
Points
Wayne Simmonds … 2 points … 500 career points
Johan Larsson … 5 points … 100 career points
Wins
Carter Hutton … 7 wins … 100 career wins

RECENT MILESTONES
Henri Jokiharju … 100th NHL game … Feb. 23 vs. WPG
Jonas Johansson … 1st NHL win … Feb. 23 vs. WPG

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, February 1
Columbus 1 at Buffalo 2 (OT)
Goals: Rodrigues, Eichel
Goalie: Hutton (22 saves/23 shots)
PP: 0/0; PK: 2/2; Shots: Buffalo 24 – Columbus 23

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 244)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 52 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 36 games
Tage Thompson (shoulder, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 32 games
Victor Olofsson (lower body, Jan. 4; injured reserve) – 10 games
Linus Ullmark (lower body, Jan. 30; injured reserve) – 2 games
Zach Bogosian (illness, Feb. 1) – 1 game
Brandon Montour (lower body, Feb. 1) – 1 game
Kyle Okposo (upper body, Feb. 1; injured reserve) – 1 game
Rasmus Dahlin (upper body, Feb. 4) – 0 games
Johan Larsson (lower body, Feb. 4) – 0 games
Curtis Lazar (illness, Feb. 4) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/29: Recalled G Jonas Johansson from Rochester (AHL)
1/30: Placed G Linus Ullmark on IR
1/31: Recalled F Jean-Sebastien Dea from Rochester (AHL)
2/4: Recalled F Rasmus Asplund from Rochester (AHL); Placed F Kyle Okposo on IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Feb. 6: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 7: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 9: Anaheim at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 11: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 13: Columbus at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
AVALANCHE at SABRES

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Avalanche this season.
• Last meeting: Colorado defeated Buffalo 3-0 in Colorado on March 9, 2019.
• Next meeting: Wednesday, Feb. 26 in Colorado
• The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Avalanche; 3-5-2 at home.
• This is the 146th game all-time between Buffalo and Colorado; Buffalo has a 62-59-24 series record.
• The Sabres are 38-23-11 at home against the Avalanche all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 13-7-3 all-time on February 4.
• February 4, 1971: Eddie Shack records the second hat trick in franchise history in a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
• February 4, 2012: Ryan Miller passes Dominik Hasek for the most wins in franchise history with his 235th career win at NY Islanders. Miller would finish his Sabres career with 284 regular-season wins.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Brandon Montour has totaled five points (2+3) in five career games against the Avalanche, making Colorado the only NHL team that he has recorded a point per game against.
• Michael Frolik has recorded a point in six of his eight meetings with the Avalanche since the beginning of the 2017-18 season (5+1).
• Since the beginning of January, the Sabres have gone 8-for-28 on the power play. Their conversion rate of 28.6 percent during that stretch ranked as the fourth-best rate in the league in 2020 entering play Monday.
• Jack Eichel enters tonight’s game seeking the second four-game goal streak of his career (last: Dec. 10 to 17, 2019).
• Sam Reinhart has totaled 13 points (6+7) in the Sabres’ last 13 contests, including at least a point in nine of the last 11 (6+6).
• Carter Hutton has started both of the Sabres’ last two games, stopping 49 of the 52 shots he faced in those contests (.942).

HOME COOKING

• Tonight’s game is the fourth in a 20-day stretch during which the Sabres will play nine of 10 games at home. The lone road game during that span will take place on Feb. 7 at NY Rangers.
• The team is averaging 3.23 goals per game at home this season, which would mark Buffalo’s best home scoring rate since the 2007-08 season (3.39).
• With 41 points (23+18) in 26 home games this season, Jack Eichel’s 1.58 points per game at home tied for fourth-most in the league entering play Monday. His plus-18 rating at home ranked second.
• Sam Reinhart (12+14) is also producing at a point-per-game rate through 26 home games this season. Reinhart has totaled 15 points (6+9) in his last 12 games at KeyBank Center, including five multi-point outings.

TEEN TITAN

• Rasmus Dahlin has totaled 74 points (12+62) through his first 126 NHL games, including 30 points (3+27) in 44 games this season.
• With his assist on Jan. 30 vs. Montreal, Dahlin passed Bobby Orr (72) for fourth-most points recorded by an NHL defenseman before his 20th birthday. He now trails only Phil Housley (132), Ray Bourque (79) and Rick Hampton (76) for most points ever recorded by a teenage defenseman.
• Aaron Ekblad’s 61 points (22+39) in 129 games as a teenager led active NHL defensemen for most points before turning 20 until Dahlin recorded his 62nd point with an assist in his 108th NHL game on Dec. 14 at NY Islanders. Andrei Svechnikov is the only active teenager in the NHL with more career points than Dahlin’s 72. He has 83 points (40+43) in 134 career games.
• Entering play Monday, Dahlin’s .59 points per game in his career ranked as the 18th-highest rate among active NHL defensemen with at least 10 career games played. His .681 points per game so far this season represent the best single-season scoring rate by a Sabres defenseman since Brian Campbell (.683) in 2007-08.

SETTING THE PACE

• With his 29th goal in his 49th game of the season on Jan. 28 vs. Ottawa, Jack Eichel topped his previous best total set in the 2018-19 season (77 GP). He now has 31 goals in 51 games played this season.
• Eichel’s output through 52 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 49 goals and 103 points, which would be the highest goal and point totals by a Sabre since Pat LaFontaine (53+95) and Alexander Mogilny (76+51) in 1992-93.
• LaFontaine (83 in 1992-93) and Mogilny (78 in 1992-93) are the only Sabres ever to have recorded more even-strength points in a season than the 70 Eichel is currently on pace for.
• Despite missing eight games due to injury, Rasmus Dahlin is currently on pace to record 50 points this season, which would make him the Sabres’ first 50-point defenseman since Garry Galley (54) in 1995-96.
• Sam Reinhart is currently on pace to set career-high totals in goals (28) and points (68).

JACK ATTACK

• Entering play Monday, Jack Eichel’s 31 goals this season ranked fourth among all NHL players and his 65 points tied for seventh in the league.
• Eichel has been held without a point in just three of his last 33 games played. During that stretch, which began with a four-goal performance vs. Ottawa on Nov. 16, Buffalo’s captain has totaled 46 points (23+23) in 33 appearances, also missing one game due to injury.
  • Entering play Monday, Eichel trailed only Artemi Panarin (49) and Evgeni Malkin (47) for the most points in the league during that timeframe.
• Eichel represented the Sabres at NHL All-Star Weekend on Jan. 24 and 25 in St. Louis. With his third consecutive All-Star nod, Eichel became the seventh player in franchise history to represent the team in at least three NHL All-Star Games. His four assists at this year’s event moved him past Rick Martin (7) for the most career All-Star Game points as a member of the Sabres (2+6).
• He joins Martin as the only other player in franchise history to record at least 20 goals and 50 points in each of his first five NHL seasons.
• Eichel’s 60th point of the season on Jan. 14 vs. Vegas made him the first Sabre to reach 60 points in 46 or fewer games since 1992-93 (Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny).
• With his 30th goal on Jan. 30 vs. Montreal, Jack Eichel became the first Sabres player to record 30 goals and 30 assists in a season since Jason Pominville (30+43) in 2011-12. He became the 23rd different player in franchise history to accomplish this feat at least once and tied Gilbert Perreault’s 1974-75 season as the sixth-fewest games needed to reach the 30/30 mark (50).

POINTS IN BUNCHES

• Jack Eichel has recorded 17 multi-point games this season, ranking as the 12th-most in the NHL before Monday’s games. The Sabres are 12-3-2 (.765) in those games.
• Entering play Monday, Eichel’s six multi-goal games tied for fourth-most in the league and his nine multi-assist games tied for 11th-most.
• Eichel has recorded at least three points seven times this season, topping his previous career-high total (6) set in the 2016-17 season. Only Connor McDavid (11), Leon Draisaitl (10), David Pastrnak (9), and Artemi Panarin (8) had more games with at least three points this season entering play Monday.
• Sam Reinhart ranks second on the Sabres with 11 multi-point games this season. The team is 8-2-1 this season (.773) and 39-7-8 (.796) in his career when he records at least two points.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 2/3 games)

• Eichel: 3 OTG (T-2nd), 23 EVG (3rd), 7 GWG (3rd), 31 G (4th), 44 EVP (5th), 65 PTS (T-7th), 20 PPP (T-10th)
• Hutton: 2 SO (T-10th)
• Olofsson: 9 PPG (T-8th)
• Ristolainen: 158 hits (T-10th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (158), Girgensons (84), McCabe (69)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (67), Ristolainen (58), Jokiharju (48)
Shots: Eichel (170), Skinner (133), Reinhart (105)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 8-1-1 (17), 38/24, 12/39, 23/30
11-20: 2-6-2 (6), 21/35, 2/26, 21/29
21-30: 3-4-3 (8), 34/34, 4/33, 23/32
31-40: 4-5-1 (9), 24/32, 4/23, 23/30
41-50: 5-5-0 (10), 30/32, 7/29, 21/29
51-60: 1-1-0 (2), 3/4, 1/3, 3/3

OVERTIME RESULTS (5-6; 125-134 all-time)
Oct. 7 at CBJ: L, 4-3 (Texier, 2:08)
Oct. 9 vs. MTL: W, 5-4 (Johansson, 1:30)
Oct. 22 vs. SJS: W, 4-3 (Eichel, 3:13)
Nov. 14 vs. CAR: L, 5-4 (Hamilton, 2:28)
Nov. 27 vs. CGY: L, 3-2 (Lindholm, 1:17)
Nov. 30 at TOR: L, 2-1 (Tavares, 1:45)
Dec. 7 at VAN: L, 6-5 (Miller, 3:21)
Dec. 8 at EDM: W, 3-2 (Miller, 1:13)
Dec. 14 at NYI: L, 3-2 (Beauvillier, 3:04)
Jan. 2 vs. EDM: W, 3-2 (Eichel, 1:09)
Feb. 1 vs. CBJ: W, 2-1 (Eichel, 0:36)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-1; 76-70 all-time)
Oct. 11 vs. FLA: W, 3-2 (GDG-Eichel)
Oct. 28 vs. ARI: L, 3-2 (GDG-Schmaltz)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Linus Ullmark … 4 games … 100 career games played
Henri Jokiharju … 10 games … 100 career games played
Assists
Jack Eichel … 8 assists … 200 career assists
Points
Zach Bogosian … 6 points … 200 career points
Johan Larsson … 9 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A

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