Tag Archives: Dan Bylsma

STATEMENT FROM SABRES OWNER TERRY PEGULA

BUFFALO, N.Y. (April 20, 2017) — Buffalo Sabres Owner Terry Pegula has issued the following statement:

“After reviewing the past season and looking at the future of our organization, Kim and I have decided to relieve General Manager Tim Murray and Head Coach Dan Bylsma of their duties. We want to thank Tim and Dan for their hard work and efforts that they have put in during their tenures with the club. We wish them luck. We have begun the process to fill these positions immediately.”

2016-17 Season Recap

Top Team Notes:

  • Buffalo’s power play finished the season at a league-best 24.5 percent success rate, marking the second time in franchise history that the Sabres have led the league in power-play percentage (1991-92 – 22.5%). It ranks as the third-best conversion rate in franchise history and the 15th-best by any team since the league began publishing the stat in 1987-88.
  • The Sabres got at least 10 wins from two different goaltenders (Lehner – 23, Nilsson – 10) for the first time since the 2006-07 season (Miller – 40, Biron – 12) and had two goaltenders with at least five games played log a save percentage of .920 or better for the first time in franchise history (Nilsson – .923, Lehner – .920).
  • Buffalo’s goaltenders combined to post a .921 save percentage this season, marking the fourth-best team rate in the league this season and the fifth-best in franchise history:

    Team

    Goaltenders

    SV%

    CBJ

    Bobrovsky, Korpisalo, McElhinney, Forsberg

    .925

    WSH

    Holtby, Grubauer

    .925

    MTL

    Price, Montoya, Lindgren

    .921

    BUF

    Lehner, Nilsson, Ullmark

    .921

    Season

    Goaltenders

    SV%

    1998-99

    Hasek, Roloson, Biron

    .930

    1997-98

    Hasek, Shields

    .928

    1996-97

    Hasek, Shields, Trefilov

    .926

    2009-10

    Miller, Lalime, Enroth

    .924

    2016-17

    Lehner, Nilsson, Ullmark

    .921

Top Player Notes:

Jack Eichel

  • At 20 years of age, Jack Eichel became just the fifth player in franchise history to lead the team (or tie for the team lead) in points before his 21st birthday:
    • 1970-71: Gilbert Perreault
    • 1971-72: Rick Martin
    • 1988-89: Pierre Turgeon
    • 1989-90: Pierre Turgeon
  • Jack Eichel’s .93 points per game this season ranked him 11th among NHL skaters with at least 20 games played and were the most by a Sabre under the age of 21 since Pierre Turgeon (1.33) in 1989-90.
  • From Feb. 14 to March 7, Jack Eichel recorded a career-best 11-game point streak (5+11) that tied as the fourth-longest streak in the NHL in 2016-17 and was the longest by a Sabre since Tim Connolly tallied points in 16 straight from Dec. 23, 2009 to Jan. 25, 2010.
    • The streak included a nine-game assist streak from Feb. 14 to March 4 that stands as the longest assist streak in the league this season.
  • The Sabres were 14-2-0 this season (22-5-1 in his career) when Jack Eichel recorded at least two points.

Brian Gionta

  • Brian Gionta appeared in his 1,000th NHL game on March 27 vs. Florida, becoming the 312th NHL player (23rd active player) to play in 1,000 games. He was also the 43rd American player to reach the milestone and the 10th player to do so as a member of the Sabres.
    • With his goal in the game, Gionta became the third Sabres player to score in his 1,000th NHL game, joining Gilbert Perreault (1/29/1984 vs. Pittsburgh) and Phil Russell (3/12/1986 at Chicago).

Evander Kane

  • With 25 even-strength goals in 70 games this season, Evander Kane finished the season ranked ninth in the league with .36 even-strength goals per game. It was the best rate by any Sabre since Jason Pominville scored 30 even-strength goals in 82 games (.37) in the 2006-07 season.

Matt Moulson

  • Matt Moulson finished the season tied for 11th in the league with 11 power-play goals. It was his highest total since the 2011-12 season and the most by a Sabre since Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford each recorded 11 in 2010-11.

Ryan O’Reilly

  • Ryan O’Reilly ranked fifth in the league and set a career high with a faceoff win percentage of 58.0 percent. It was the fourth-best season by a Sabres center since the league began publishing faceoff percentage in 1997-98:
    • Paul Gaustad – 59.8% (2010-11)
    • Chris Gratton – 58.9% (2002-03)
    • Chris Drury – 58.8% (2006-07)
    • Ryan O’Reilly – 58.0% (2016-17)
  • Ryan O’Reilly (21:27) led all NHL forwards in average ice time per game for the second consecutive season.

Rasmus Ristolainen

  • At 26:23, Rasmus Ristolainen averaged the most ice time by a Sabres skater in a full season with the team since Alexei Zhitnik (26:33) in 2002-03.
  • Rasmus Ristolainen’s 24 power-play assists tied for fourth-most in the league this season and tied for 21st-most in a season in franchise history.  It was the highest total by a Sabres defenseman since Garry Galley logged 28 on the 1995-96 season.
  • Rasmus Ristolainen recorded an assist on 20.2 percent of his teammates’ goals this season, joining Phil Housley (22.6% in 1989-90) as just the second Sabres defenseman ever to record an assist on more than 20 percent of his teammates’ goals in a season.
  • Rasmus Ristolainen’s 39 assists tied him for seventh among all NHL defensemen this season and were the 19th-most by a defenseman in franchise history. Only one other Sabres defenseman in the last 20 years has matched this mark (Brian Campbell, 42 assists in 2006-07).

 

End-Of-Season Press Conferences

General Manager Tim Murray

Head Coach Dan Bylsma

 

Locker Room Clean-Out Interviews
Brian Gionta

Rasmus Ristolainen

Robin Lehner

Ryan O’Reilly

Sam Reinhart

Jake McCabe

Evander Kane

Johan Larsson

Cody Franson

Tyler Ennis

Anders Nilsson

Marcus Foligno

Zemgus Girgensons

Zach Bogosian

Evan Rodrigues

Matt Moulson

William Carrier

Josh Gorges

Jack Eichel

 

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres ranked in the top 10)

  • Buffalo Sabres: 24.5% PP% (1st)
  • Eichel: 4.1 S/GP (1st)
  • Foligno: 279 hits (5th)
  • Kane: 3.7 S/GP (5th)
  • Nilsson: .933 EV SV% (6th), .923 SV% (10th)
  • O’Reilly: 21:27 TOI/GP (1st, forwards), 58.0 FO% (5th)
  • Ristolainen: 24 PPA (T-4th), 26:28 TOI/GP (5th), 39 A (T-7th, defensemen)

 

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 4-4-2 (10), 23/24, 8/35, 26/31
11-20: 3-4-3 (9), 15/26, 6/31, 28/36
21-30: 5-3-2 (12), 31/26, 8/30, 13/24
31-40: 4-4-2 (10), 27/31, 7/34, 21/28
41-50: 4-5-1 (9), 28/33, 6/27, 21/28
51-60: 6-4-0 (12), 26/25, 6/25, 24/30
61-70: 2-7-1 (5), 31/39, 9/30, 24/29
71-80: 5-5-0 (10), 21/23, 7/18, 21/24
81-82: 0-2-0 (0), 2/7, 0/3, 6/7

 

OVERTIME RESULTS (6-6; 108-111 all-time)
Oct. 18 at CGY: L, 4-3 (GWG-Monahan, 2:26)
Nov. 11 vs. NJD: L, 2-1 (GWG-Greene, 0:29)
Dec. 5 at WSH: L, 3-2 (GWG-Johansson, 2:38)
Dec. 6 vs. EDM: W, 4-3 (GWG-Ristolainen, 0:57)
Dec. 16 vs. NYI: W, 3-2 (GWG-Ristolainen, 0:42)

Jan. 5 at CHI: L, 4-3 (GWG-Kane, 0:56)
Jan. 20 vs. DET: W, 3-2 (GWG-Okposo, 4:34)
Jan. 21 at MTL: W, 3-2 (GWG-Bogosian, 1:48)
Jan. 24 at NSH: W, 5-4 (GWG-Eichel, 2:35)

Feb. 2 vs. NYR: L, 2-1 (GWG-Kreider, 3:56)
Feb. 7 vs. SJS: W, 5-4 (GWG-Kane, 1:05)
Feb. 28 vs. NSH: L, 5-4 (GWG-Forsberg, 2:45)

 

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (2-6; 69-64 all-time)
Oct. 25 at PHI: L, 4-3 (GDG-Giroux)
Nov. 9 vs. OTT: L, 2-1 (GDG-Ryan)
Nov. 19 vs. PIT: W, 2-1 (GDG-C. O’Reilly)
Nov. 23 vs. DET: L, 2-1 (GDG-Vanek)
Dec. 17 at CAR: L, 2-1 (GDG-Stempniak)
Dec. 20 at FLA: L, 4-3 (GDG-Trocheck)
March 4 vs. TBL: L, 2-1 (GDG-Point)
March 17 at ANA: W, 2-1 (GDG-Girgensons)

Post-Game Report: 4/5 vs. Montreal

Final Score

1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final SOG
Canadiens
(46-25-9)
0 0 1 1 32
Sabres
(33-35-12)
1 1 0 2 30

Game Summary

Event Summary

Top Notes

  • With the win, the Sabres improved to 26-15-6 all-time in the final home game of the season.
  • Jack Eichel’s first-period assist gave him career-high totals in assists (33) and points (57) in 22 fewer games than he played in 2015-16.
  • With his assist on Tyler Ennis’ goal, Evander Kane now has seven points (2+5) in his last seven games against the Canadiens.
  • Ryan O’Reilly’s assist tonight gives him eight points (1+7) in eight games against Montreal since joining the Sabres.
  • Injury Update: Marcus Foligno left tonight’s game with a knee injury.

Tonight’s Goaltenders

Tonight’s Stats
Team Goaltender Decision SV% GAA
Canadiens
Price L .933 2.04
Sabres Lehner W .969 1.00

 

Updated Season Stats
Team Goaltender Record SV% GAA
Canadiens Price 37-19-5 .924 2.20
Sabres Lehner 23-25-8 .920 2.67

 

Post-Game Audio

Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma

Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly

Sabres forward Jack Eichel

Sabres forward Tyler Ennis

Canadiens head coach Claude Julien

Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty

Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher

Canadiens forward Tomas Plekanec

Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu

Post-Game Report: 4/2 vs. NY Islanders

Final Score

1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final SOG
Islanders
(37-29-12)
1 1 2 4 26
Sabres
(32-34-12)
0 1 1 2 37

Game Summary

Event Summary

Top Notes

  • The Sabres killed off their only penalty today, improving to 50-for-57 (87.7%) on the penalty kill in their last 22 games.
  • C.J. Smith made his NHL debut today, recording his first NHL point with an assist on Evander Kane’s first-period goal.
  • Kane’s 27th goal of the season gave him 12 points (9+3) in his last 12 games at KeyBank Center.
  • With his goal, Zemgus Girgensons now has a goal in each of his last two games against the Islanders.
  • With no points today, Jack Eichel has gone two games without a point for just the first time since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2. Eichel has totaled 34 points (11+23) in the 28 games since Feb. 2.

Today’s Goaltenders

Today’s Stats
Team Goaltender Decision SV% GAA
Islanders
Halak W .946 2.00
Sabres Lehner L .846 4.11

 

Updated Season Stats
Team Goaltender Record SV% GAA
Islanders Halak 9-9-5 .909 3.03
Sabres Lehner 22-24-8 .921 2.65

Post-Game Audio

Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma

Sabres forward C.J. Smith

Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons

Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner

Islanders head coach Doug Weight

Islanders forward Anders Lee

Islanders forward Joshua Ho-Sang

Islanders forward Connor Jones

Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck

Post-Game Report: 3/27 vs. Florida

Final Score

1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final SOG
Panthers
(33-31-11)
0 2 0 2 32
Sabres
(32-32-12)
2 2 0 4 32

Game Summary

Event Summary

Top Notes

  • The Sabres are now 8-1-1 in their last nine games against Atlantic Division opponents, including a 4-0-1 record at KeyBank Center. It is the team’s best 10-game stretch against divisional opponents since the 2010-11 season.
  • Brian Gionta appeared in his 1,000th NHL game tonight, becoming the 312th NHL player (23rd active player) to play in 1,000 games. He is also the 43rd American player to reach the milestone and the 10th player to do so as a member of the Sabres.
    • With his goal, Gionta became the third Sabres player to score in his 1,000th NHL game, joining Gilbert Perreault (1/29/1984 vs. Pittsburgh) and Phil Russell (3/12/1986 at Chicago).
  • With his goal, Ryan O’Reilly now has 15 points (6+9) in his last 13 games against the Panthers.
    • Dating back to Nov. 11, O’Reilly now has 29 points (10+19) in his last 29 games at KeyBank Center.
  • Jack Eichel’s two-assist night gives him 34points (11+23) in 26 games since his last two-game stretch without a point, from Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
    • Eichel now has 32 assists in 55 games this season, tying last year’s total in 26 fewer games.
  • Zach Bogosian now has five career goals against Florida, his highest total against any NHL team.

Tonight’s Goaltenders

Tonight’s Stats
Team Goaltender Decision SV% GAA
Panthers
Reimer
Berra
L
ND
.818
1.000
6.83
0.00
Sabres Lehner W .938 2.00

 

Updated Season Stats
Team Goaltender Record SV% GAA
Panthers
Reimer
Berra
16-15-5
0-1-0
.917
.907
2.58
2.24
Sabres Lehner 22-23-8 .922 2.63

Post-Game Audio

Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma

Sabres forward Brian Gionta

Sabres forward Marcus Foligno

Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges

Panthers head coach Tom Rowe

Panthers forward Reilly Smith

Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau

Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle