Tag Archives: Columbus Blue Jackets

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, February 11
Detroit 2 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Sheary, Johansson, Reinhart
Goalie: Hutton (27 saves/29 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 3/3; Shots: Detroit 29 – Buffalo 25

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 279)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 57 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 41 games
Tage Thompson (shoulder, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 37 games
Victor Olofsson (lower body, Jan. 4) – 15 games
Linus Ullmark (lower body, Jan. 30; injured reserve) – 7 games
Kyle Okposo (upper body, Feb. 1) – 6 games
Marcus Johansson (upper body, Feb. 13) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/8: Assigned F Rasmus Asplund and D Lawrence Pilut to Rochester (AHL)
2/9: Recalled D Lawrence Pilut and G Andrew Hammond from Rochester (AHL)
2/10: Assigned G Andrew Hammond to Rochester (AHL)
2/13: Assigned F Scott Wilson to Rochester (AHL); Activated F Kyle Okposo and F Victor Olofsson from IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Feb. 16: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 18: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 22: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 23: Winnipeg at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 26: Buffalo at Colorado, 8 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
BLUE JACKETS at SABRES

• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Blue Jackets this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Columbus 2-1 (OT) in Buffalo on Feb. 1
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Blue Jackets; 4-5-1 at home.
• This is the 35th game all-time between Buffalo and Columbus; Buffalo has a 13-17-4 series record.
• The Sabres are 8-9-1 at home against the Blue Jackets all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-5-5 all-time on February 13.
• February 13, 2004: The Sabres score seven unanswered goals in a 17-minute span and get points from 12 players to top the Los Angeles Kings 8-3 in Buffalo.
• February 13, 2011: Drew Stafford scores three goals to earn his league-high fourth hat trick of the 2010-11 season.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Today’s game is the ninth in a 20-day stretch during which the Sabres play nine of 10 games at home. The lone road game during that span was a 3-2 win on Friday at NY Rangers. The final game of this stretch will take place on Sunday vs. Toronto.
• With a victory tonight, the Sabres would win their season series against the Blue Jackets for the first time since 2015-16.
• Sam Reinhart has recorded 16 points (9+7) in 16 games since the beginning of January. His nine goals during that stretch tied for eighth-most in the league entering play Wednesday.

HOT AGAINST COLUMBUS

• Jack Eichel has totaled eight points (4+4) in seven career home games against the Blue Jackets.
• Jeff Skinner has recorded 14 points (7+7) in his last 15 meetings with Columbus, including four points (3+1) in five games since joining the Sabres.
• Rasmus Dahlin has posted four assists in five career games against the Blue Jackets, including an assist in each of this season’s previous matchups.
• Evan Rodrigues, who scored in the last meeting between the Sabres and Blue Jackets, has totaled five points (4+1) in his last seven games against Columbus.

TEEN TITAN

• Rasmus Dahlin has totaled 76 points (13+63) through his first 129 NHL games, including 32 points (4+28) in 47 games this season.
• With his assist on Feb. 11 vs. Detroit, Dahlin tied Rick Hampton (76) for third-most points recorded by an NHL defenseman before his 20th birthday. He now trails only Phil Housley (132) and Ray Bourque (79) 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 76.
• Entering play Wednesday, Dahlin’s .59 points per game in his career ranked as the 16th-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 56 games played this season.
• Eichel’s output through 57 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 45 goals and 101 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) are the only Sabres ever to have recorded more even-strength points in a season than the 69 Eichel is currently on pace for.
• Eichel is on pace to become just the ninth player in franchise history to record 80 points in back-to-back seasons at least once, joining Danny Gare, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, Rick Martin, Alexander Mogilny, Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and Pierre Turgeon.
• 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 (30) and points (68).

JACK ATTACK

• Jack Eichel has been held without a point in just four of his last 38 games played. During that stretch, which began with a four-goal performance vs. Ottawa on Nov. 16, Buffalo’s captain has totaled 51 points (23+28) in 38 appearances, also missing one game due to injury.
  • Entering play Wednesday, only three NHL players have recorded at least a point in more games this season than Eichel’s 42: Leon Draisaitl (46), Nathan MacKinnon (45) and Patrick Kane (44).
• With his 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. The last player to do so was Derek Roy in 2007-08 (81) and 2008-09 (70).
• Eichel recorded his 70th point of the season in his 56th game on Feb. 11 vs. Detroit, tying for the 10th-fastest season to 70 points in Sabres history. Only six different players in franchise history have reached the 70-point mark quicker: Gilbert Perreault (3x), Pat Lafontaine (2x), Rick Martin, Alexander Mogilny, Rene Robert, Pierre Turgeon.
• 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 18 multi-point games this season, tying as the 10th-most in the NHL before Wednesday’s games. The Sabres are 13-3-2 (.778) in those games.
• Entering play Wednesday, Eichel’s six multi-goal games tied for fourth-most in the league and his 10 multi-assist games tied for ninth-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 Leon Draisaitl (11), Connor McDavid (11), David Pastrnak (9) and Artemi Panarin (8) had more games with at least three points this season entering play Wednesday.
• Sam Reinhart ranks second on the Sabres with 12 multi-point games this season. The team is 9-2-1 this season (.792) and 40-7-8 (.800) in his career when he records at least two points.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 2/12 games)

• Eichel: 3 OTG (T-2nd), 23 EVG (T-3rd), 7 GWG (3rd), 48 EVP (6th), 31 G (T-6th), 70 PTS (T-6th), 21 PPP (T-9th)
• Ristolainen: 170 hits (T-10th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (170), Girgensons (91), McCabe (74)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (74), Ristolainen (64), Jokiharju (51)
Shots: Eichel (188), Skinner (147), Reinhart (122)

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: 3-3-1 (7), 15/21, 2/15, 11/13

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 (1-2; 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
Henri Jokiharju … 5 games … 100 career games played
Jimmy Vesey … 7 games … 300 career games played
Scott Wilson … 7 games … 200 career games played
Colin Miller … 9 games … 300 career games played
Goals
Kyle Okposo … 8 goals … 200 career goals
Assists
Jack Eichel … 3 assists … 200 career assists
Points
Kyle Okposo … 1 point … 500 career points
Zach Bogosian … 6 points … 200 career points
Johan Larsson … 8 points … 100 career points
Wins
Carter Hutton … 10 wins … 100 career wins

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

 LAST GAME
Thursday, January 30
Montreal 3 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Eichel
Goalie: Hutton (27 saves/29 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 1/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Montreal 30 – Buffalo 21

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 236)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 51 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 35 games
Tage Thompson (shoulder, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 31 games
Victor Olofsson (lower body, Jan. 4; injured reserve) – 9 games
Linus Ullmark (lower body, Jan. 30; injured reserve) – 1 game
Kyle Okposo (upper body, Feb. 1) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/26: Recalled D Lawrence Pilut from Rochester (AHL)
1/28: Activated F Jeff Skinner from IR
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)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Feb. 4: Colorado at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
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.

TODAY’S GAME
BLUE JACKETS at SABRES

• This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Blue Jackets this season.
• Last meeting: Columbus defeated Buffalo 4-3 (OT) in Columbus on Oct. 7, 2019
• Next meeting: Thursday, Feb. 13 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Blue Jackets; 4-5-1 at home.
• This is the 34th game all-time between Buffalo and Columbus; Buffalo has a 12-17-4 series record.
• The Sabres are 7-9-1 at home against the Blue Jackets all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 6-7-5 all-time on February 1.
• February 1, 1976: Gilbert Perreault records two goals and five assists as the Sabres pick up a 9-5 road win against the California Seals. Danny Gare and the Seals’ Jim Moxey and Wayne Merrick all score goals within 18 seconds of each other in the third period.
• February 1, 1981: Ric Seiling scores the 3,000th goal in franchise history and Don Edwards records his 13th shutout as a member of the Sabres as Buffalo defeats Winnipeg 4-0 at home.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres are 4-1-2 in afternoon games this season, including a 4-1-0 record at home.
• Jack Eichel has been held without a point in just three of his last 32 games played. During that stretch, which began with a four-goal performance vs. Ottawa on Nov. 16, Buffalo’s captain has totaled 45 points (22+23) in 32 appearances, also missing one game due to injury.
  • Entering play Friday, Eichel trailed only Artemi Panarin (47) and Nathan MacKinnon (46) for the most points in the league during that timeframe.
• Sam Reinhart has totaled 12 points (6+6) in the Sabres’ last 12 contests, including at least a point in eight of the last 10 (6+5).
• Jack Eichel has totaled seven points (3+4) in six career home games against the Blue Jackets.
• Jeff Skinner has recorded 14 points (7+7) in his last 14 meetings with Columbus, including four points (3+1) in four games since joining the Sabres.
• Marcus Johansson has scored in each of his last two games against the Blue Jackets.
• Colin Miller has recorded an assist in two consecutive games against Columbus entering today’s contest.

HOME COOKING

• Today’s game is the third 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 3.28 goals per game at home this season, which would mark Buffalo’s best home scoring rate since the 2007-08 season (3.39).
• With 40 points (22+18) in 25 home games this season, Jack Eichel’s 1.60 points per game at home tied for third-most in the league entering play Friday. His plus-17 rating at home ranked second.
• Sam Reinhart (12+13) is also producing at a point-per-game rate through 25 home games this season. Reinhart has totaled 14 points (6+8) in his last 11 games at KeyBank Center, including five multi-point outings.

30/30 CLUB

• With his 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. Gilbert Perreault reached the 30/30 mark a franchise-record 10 times in his 17-season career.
• Eichel reached the 30/30 mark in 50 games played, matching Perreault’s personal best for fewest games needed to get to 30 goals and 30 assists (1974-75). Only four different Sabres have tallied 30 goals and 30 assists in a season in fewer than 50 games played:
  • Pat LaFontaine, 1991-92: 31 GP
  • Pat LaFontaine, 1992-93: 42 GP
  • Rick Martin, 1974-75: 47 GP
  • Alexander Mogilny, 1992-93: 47 GP
  • Rene Robert, 1972-73: 48 GP

TEEN TITAN

• Rasmus Dahlin has totaled 73 points (12+61) through his first 125 NHL games, including 29 points (3+26) in 43 games this season.
• With his assist on Jan.30 vs. Montreal, Dahlin passed Bobby Orr 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 82 points (39+43) in 132 career games before Friday’s game vs. Vegas.
• Entering play Friday, Dahlin’s .58 points per game in his career ranked as the 18th-highest rate among active NHL defensemen with at least 10 career games played. His .67 points per game so far this season represent the best single-season scoring rate by a Sabres defenseman since Brian Campbell (.68) 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 30 goals in 50 games played this season.
• Eichel’s output through 51 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 49 goals and 104 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 (29) and points (68).

JACK ATTACK

• Entering play Friday, Jack Eichel’s 30 goals this season tied for fourth-most among all NHL players and his 64 points ranked eighth in the league.
• 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.
• With his 60th point of the season on Jan. 14 vs. Vegas, Eichel became the first Sabre to reach 60 points in 46 or fewer games since 1992-93 (Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny).
• Eichel hasn’t been held without a point in three consecutive appearances since early November. In his 34 games played since then, he has totaled 47 points (23+24), including a stretch of 18 straight appearances (Nov. 16 to Dec. 21) that tied Gilbert Perreault (Oct. 24 to Dec. 4, 1971) for the most consecutive games played with a point in franchise history.

POINTS IN BUNCHES

• Jack Eichel has recorded 17 multi-point games this season, tying for the 10th-most in the NHL before Friday’s games. The Sabres are 12-3-2 (.765) in those games.
• Entering play Friday, Eichel’s six multi-goal games tied for third-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 (9), Artemi Panarin (8) and David Pastrnak (8) had more games with at least three points this season entering play Friday.
• 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 1/31 games)

• Eichel: 22 EVG (T-3rd), 6 GWG (T-3rd), 30 G (T-4th), 43 EVP (T-5th), 64 PTS (8th)
• Hutton: 2 SO (T-8th)
• Olofsson: 9 PPG (T-8th)
• Ristolainen: 153 hits (T-10th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (153), Girgensons (81), McCabe (66)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (65), Ristolainen (56), Jokiharju (46)
Shots: Eichel (169), Skinner (130), Reinhart (104)

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: 0-1-0 (0), 1/3, 1/3, 1/1

OVERTIME RESULTS (4-6; 124-134 all-time)
Oct. 7 at CBJ: L, 4-3 (GWG-Texier, 2:08)
Oct. 9 vs. MTL: W, 5-4 (GWG-Johansson, 1:30)
Oct. 22 vs. SJS: W, 4-3 (GWG-Eichel, 3:13)
Nov. 14 vs. CAR: L, 5-4 (GWG-Hamilton, 2:28)
Nov. 27 vs. CGY: L, 3-2 (GWG-Lindholm, 1:17)
Nov. 30 at TOR: L, 2-1 (GWG-Tavares, 1:45)
Dec. 7 at VAN: L, 6-5 (GWG-Miller, 3:21)
Dec. 8 at EDM: W, 3-2 (GWG-Miller, 1:13)
Dec. 14 at NYI: L, 3-2 (GWG-Beauvillier, 3:04)
Jan. 2 vs. EDM: W, 3-2 (GWG-Eichel, 1:09)

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
Goals
Kyle Okposo … 8 goals … 200 career goals
Assists
Jack Eichel … 8 assists … 200 career assists
Points
Kyle Okposo … 1 point … 500 career points
Zach Bogosian … 6 points … 200 career points
Johan Larsson … 9 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, October 5
New Jersey 2 at Buffalo 7
Goals: Olofsson (2), Reinhart (2), Eichel, Okposo, Skinner
Goalie: Hutton (18 saves/20 shots)
PP: 3/4; PK: 2/2; Shots: Buffalo 36 – New Jersey 20

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 8)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (hip, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 2 games
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 2 games
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (hip; Oct. 3, injured reserve) – 2 games
Brandon Montour (hand, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/1: Recalled F Jean-Sebastien Dea, F Curtis Lazar and D Lawrence Pilut from Rochester (AHL); Assigned F Remi Elie, F Curtis Lazar, F Victor Olofsson, F Scott Wilson, D Henri Jokiharju and D Casey Nelson Rochester; Placed D Zach Bogosian, D Matt Hunwick, D Brandon Montour and G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on IR
10/3: Recalled F Victor Olofsson and D Henri Jokiharju from Rochester (AHL); Assigned F Jean-Sebastien Dea, F Curtis Lazar and D Lawrence Pilut to Rochester

UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, Oct. 9: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 11: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 14: Dallas at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 16: Buffalo at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 17: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BLUE JACKETS

• This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Blue Jackets this season.
• Last meeting: Columbus defeated Buffalo 4-0 in Buffalo on March 31
• Next meeting: Saturday, Feb. 1 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Blue Jackets; 4-5-1 on the road.
• This is the 33rd game all-time between Buffalo and Columbus; Buffalo has a 12-17-3 series record.
• The Sabres are 5-8-2 on the road against the Blue Jackets all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-3-1 all-time on October 7.
• October 7, 1993: Pat LaFontaine scores twice, including his 100th goal as a member of the Sabres, in a 5-3 win at Boston.
• October 7, 2011: Ryan Miller appears in his 400th game for the Sabres and Thomas Vanek scores twice as Buffalo tops Anaheim 4-1 in Helsinki, Finland as part of the 2011 NHL Premiere Series.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Through two games, the Sabres have already gotten points from 14 different players this season. Rasmus Dahlin (1+3), Victor Olofsson (2+1) and Sam Reinhart (2+1) have each tallied at least a point in both of the team’s first two contests.
• The Sabres are 1-0-1 in their last two road games against Columbus and have a chance to earn points in three straight visits for the first time in the all-time series between the teams.
• Jack Eichel has totaled 12 points (3+9) in 12 career games against the Blue Jackets, including seven points (3+4) in six road games.
• Jeff Skinner has recorded 20 points (11+9) in 26 career games against the Blue Jackets, including 13 points (6+7) in his last 13 and at least one in each of his last three visits to Columbus (2+2).
• ­­Evan Rodrigues scored a goal in each of his three career games in Columbus, totaling four points (3+1).
• Jimmy Vesey totaled four points (3+1) in four games against the Blue Jackets last season.
• Jake McCabe has recorded five assists in five visits to Columbus in the last three seasons.

STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

• The Sabres are currently 2-0-0 to start a season for the first time since 2012-13. The team last started the season with at least three consecutive wins in 2008-09, when they won their first four contests and went unbeaten through the first eight (6-0-2).
• Ralph Krueger has become the fourth Sabres head coach to earn wins in his first two games as the team’s head coach, joining Marcel Pronovost (Oct. 13-15, 1977), Scotty Bowman (Oct. 11-13, 1979) and Jim Roberts (Dec. 9-12, 1981).
• No Sabres head coach has ever won each of his first three games with the team. However, Bowman won the first three games of his final of four separate tenures as the team’s head coach from Jan. 17 to 22, 1986, making him the only coach in Sabres history to do so in any stint with the team.

CONTROLLING THE PLAY

• Through six periods this season, the Sabres have yet to be outshot by an opponent in a single period, leading in five periods and tying once. They have held their opponents to fewer than 10 shots in four of those periods.
• The Sabres have outshot their opponents 77-49 in total and by a 59-36 margin at even strength.
• Buffalo entered play Sunday trailing only the Nashville Predators with a team SAT% of 60.0%, out-attempting their opponents 99-66 at even strength so far this season.
• Each of Buffalo’s 18 skaters who have dressed through two games has an individual SAT% of at least 50 percent
• Kyle Okposo’s team-leading SAT% of 77.14% ranked fifth in the league entering play Sunday and led all players with at least 11 minutes of ice time so far this season. Marco Scandella’s 74.51% SAT% ranked ninth in the league and led all defensemen with more than one game played.

PLAYING WITH POWER

• The Sabres entered play Sunday with the top-ranked power play in the league, converting on four of their six power plays through the first two games of the season (66.7%).
• Entering Sunday’s games, Buffalo also led the league in shot generation rate with the man advantage, averaging 3.49 shots per two minutes of power-play time.
• According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres are one of two teams who have averaged more than five shot attempts per two minutes of power-play time so far this season.

LET’S GET DANGEROUS

• According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres led the league entering play Sunday with a high-danger scoring chance percentage of 76.0%, out-chancing their opponents 19-6 in high-danger situations at 5-on-5 through the team’s first two games.*
• By this metric, Jeff Skinner leads all Sabres with three high-danger scoring chances during 5-on-5 play. Skinner tied for ninth in the league with 94 high-danger scoring chances last season.
• Five other players have recorded more than one high-danger scoring chance through the team’s two games: Jack Eichel, Casey Mittelstadt, Victor Olofsson, Rasmus Ristolainen and Vladimir Sobotka.

*A complete definition of scoring chances can be found at http://naturalstattrick.com/glossary.php?teams.

WELCOME TO BUFFALO
The Sabres had five new players on their opening-night roster this season:

2019-20 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 22 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:

• Nine were originally drafted by the Sabres — six were first-round selections (Girgensons, 2012; Ristolainen, 2013; Reinhart, 2014; Eichel, 2015; Mittelstadt, 2017; Dahlin, 2018), one was a second-round pick (McCabe, 2012), one was a sixth-round pick (Ullmark, 2012) and one was a seventh-round pick (Olofsson, 2014).
• Eight were acquired in trades: Jokiharju, Larsson, Miller, Scandella, Sheary, Skinner, Sobotka, Vesey
• Five were signed as free agents: Gilmour, Hutton, Johansson, Okposo, Rodrigues
• Seventeen played in Buffalo at some point last season: Dahlin, Eichel, Girgensons, Hutton, Larsson, McCabe, Mittelstadt, Okposo, Olofsson, Reinhart, Ristolainen, Rodrigues, Scandella, Sheary, Skinner, Sobotka, Ullmark
• Five are new to the Sabres this season: Gilmour, Johansson, Jokiharju, Miller, Vesey

2019 PRESEASON

• Buffalo finished the preseason with a 4-2-0 record; 3-0-0 at home and 1-2-0 on the road.
• Jack Eichel led all Sabres with six points (1+5) in three preseason games. Three other players also registered point-per-game totals: Sam Reinhart (3 GP, 2+2), Conor Sheary (2 GP, 1+2) and Victor Olofsson (3 GP, 3+0).
• Olofsson led the team with three goals in three preseason games.
• Linus Ullmark led Sabres goaltenders with a .936 save percentage in three appearances.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (9), Sobotka (6), McCabe (5)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (7), Miller/Ristolainen/Scandella (3)
Shots: Skinner (11), Ristolainen (8), Eichel (7)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 2-0-0 (4), 10/3, 4/6, 6/7

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 120-128 all-time)
N/A

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-0; 75-69 all-time)
N/A

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Carter Hutton … 10 games … 200 career games played
Marcus Johansson … 10 games … 600 career games played
Assists
Jeff Skinner … 1 assist … 200 career assists
Points
Rasmus Ristolainen … 5 points … 200 career points
Jimmy Vesey … 10 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Colin Miller … 100th NHL point … Oct. 3 at PIT