Tag Archives: Los Angeles Kings

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Thursday, December 19
Buffalo 1 at Philadelphia 6
Goals: Olofsson
Goalie: Hutton (23 saves/29 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 2/5; Shots: Philadelphia 29 – Buffalo 17

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 164)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 36 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 20 games
Tage Thompson (upper body, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 16 games
Jack Eichel (upper body, Dec. 19) – 1 game
Johan Larsson (lower body, Dec. 21) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/15: Assigned F Casey Mittelstadt to Rochester (AHL)
12/20: Recalled F Curtis Lazar from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Dec. 23: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 27: Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 29: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 31: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 2: Edmonton at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TODAY’S GAME
KINGS at SABRES

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Kings this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Los Angeles 3-0 in Los Angeles on Oct. 17
• The Sabres are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Kings; 9-1-0 at home.
• This is the 127th game all-time between Buffalo and Los Angeles; Buffalo has a 62-45-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 36-17-9 at home against the Kings all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 13-6-3 all-time on December 21.
• December 21, 1975: Rick Martin scores four goals and Fred Stanfield scores three as the Sabres defeat Washington by a score of 14-2, the largest winning margin in franchise history. The Sabres roster combined for 40 points in the game, the most in team history.
• December 21, 1991: Alexander Mogilny sets the franchise record for fastest goal from the start of a game, beating Toronto goaltender Jeff Reese just five seconds after the opening faceoff.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Buffalo has gone 7-for-27 (25.9%) on the power play in nine games during the month of December. The Sabres have scored at least one power-play goal in each of the team’s last three games, going 4-for-7 (57.1%) during that stretch.
• Linus Ullmark has won all three of his career meetings with Los Angeles, logging a .929 save percentage in those games.
• Jack Eichel has 10 points (4+6) in eight career games against the Kings, including four multi-point outings.
• Jeff Skinner has scored six goals in his last four meetings with Los Angeles.
• Brandon Montour has posted an assist in five of his seven career games against the Kings, including each of his last two.
• Rasmus Ristolainen has four points (1+3) in his last four games against Los Angeles.
• Evan Rodrigues tallied a point in both of his last two games against the Kings (0+2).

KING SLAYERS
The Sabres have compiled a 15-2-1 record (one tie) at home against the Kings dating back to the beginning of the 1993-94 season, outscoring Los Angeles 73-32 in those games. The Kings’ lone wins in Buffalo during that stretch came on Feb. 21, 2003 and Feb. 17, 2018.

HOME COOKING
The Sabres are 10-3-3 (.719) through their first 16 home games of the season, putting the team on pace for its ninth-best home record in a season. Buffalo’s plus-18 goal differential at home ranks fourth in the NHL.

WHO’S HOT?

• Jack Eichel has been selected as the NHL’s Third Star of the week for each of the last two weeks. Entering play Friday, his 15 points since the beginning of December led all NHL players and his eight goals during that span tied for second-most in the league.
• Eichel, who has recorded two points in each of his last four games played, is the first player to do so for the Sabres since Andrej Sekera recorded five straight multi-point games from Feb. 26 to March 6, 2011.
• Victor Olofsson entered play Friday tied for second in the NHL during the month of December with 13 points. His five goals tied for ninth and his eight assists tied for fifth.
• Olofsson has now recorded 23 points (9+14) in his last 21 games, including two-point performances in five of the team’s last nine games. He has failed to record a point in just three of those 21 games and entered play Friday leading all NHL rookies in goals (15) and points (33) this season.
• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded at least a point (1+4) in each of his four games since returning from an eight-game injury absence and now has seven points (1+6) in his last seven games played dating back to Nov. 21.
• Sam Reinhart has totaled eight points (3+5) in Buffalo’s last eight games, including three multi-point games during that stretch.
• Rasmus Ristolainen has eight points (1+7) in the Sabres’ last 11 games dating back to Nov. 29 vs. Toronto. His plus-11 mark in those games ties as the fourth-best plus/minus rating in the NHL during that span.
• Linus Ullmark has posted a 6-2-2 record in his last 10 appearances.

JACK ATTACK

• With two points (1+1) on Tuesday night at Toronto, Jack Eichel became the first Buffalo player to reach 50 points in 35 or fewer games since 1992-93 (Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny). He joins Rick 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 has scored in a personal-best four straight games played entering today’s contest. He entered play Friday ranked second in the league with 24 goals this season, including a league-high 18 at even strength.
• Since scoring four goals on Nov. 16 vs. Ottawa, Eichel has recorded a point in a career-best 17 straight games played. He now trails Gilbert Perreault (18 games, Oct. 24 to Dec. 4, 1971) by one game for the most consecutive games played with a point in franchise history.
• Entering play Friday, his 16 goals, 31 points and plus-17 rating since the run started all led the NHL during that timeframe. His 15 assists were two shy of the league lead during that stretch.

5-ON-5 GOALS

• According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres entered play Wednesday with three players among the league’s leaders in 5-on-5 goals: Jack Eichel (13, T-5th), Jeff Skinner (11, T-12th), Sam Reinhart 10, T-19th).
• Only 25 NHL players had at least 10 goals during 5-on-5 play entering play Friday. Buffalo joined the Edmonton Oilers (Draisaitl, Kassian, McDavid) as one of two teams with three players among those 25.

SETTING THE PACE

• With 24 goals in 35 games so far this season, Jack Eichel is on pace to shatter his previous best goal total (28), set in the 2018-19 season.
• Eichel’s output through 36 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 56 goals and 116 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) is the only Sabre ever to have recorded more even-strength points in a season than the 79 Eichel is currently on pace for.
• Victor Olofsson’s goal and point totals currently have him on pace for the best offensive season by a Sabres rookie in decades. If he maintains his current pace, he would finish the season with the most goals by a Sabres rookie (34) since Ray Sheppard’s 38 in 1987-88 and the most points ever recorded by a Sabres rookie (75), topping Rick Martin’s franchise-record 74 in 1971-72.
• Sam Reinhart’s 12 goals in 36 games put him on pace for a career-high goal total (27).

POINTS IN BUNCHES

• Jack Eichel has recorded 15 multi-point games this season, tying for third-most in the NHL before Friday’s games.
• Entering play Friday, his six multi-goal games led the league and his eight multi-assist games tied for second-most, trailing only Connor McDavid (10).
• Eichel has already 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 (9) and Leon Draisaitl (8) had more games with at least three points this season entering play Friday.
• Eichel’s three games with at least four points this season tied for the league lead entering play Friday. Since he entered the league in 2015-16, only seven players have totaled at least four points more times than Eichel’s eight: Nikita Kucherov (15), Patrick Kane (11), Connor McDavid (10), Johnny Gaudreau (9), Brad Marchand (9), Alex Ovechkin (9) and Steven Stamkos (9).

ONE BUFFALO

• The Sabres and the Buffalo Bills are playing on the same day for the fourth of five times this season after doing so three times last season.
• The teams have played on the same date 223 times, with both teams winning their respective games on 50 of those days.
• The Sabres are 120-69-34 when playing on a Bills game day and the Bills enter this game 95-126-2 on those dates.
• The last time the Sabres and Bills both won on the same date was Nov. 24, 2019.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 12/20 games)

• Eichel: 18 EVG (1st), 24 G (2nd), 34 EVP (T-3rd), 50 PTS (T-5th), 16 PPP (T-7th), 4 GWG (T-8th), 26 A (T-8th), 128 S (T-9th), 6 PPG (T-9th)
• Hutton: 2 SO (T-3rd)
• Olofsson: 9 PPG (3rd)
• Ristolainen: 107 hits (T-9th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (107), Girgensons (55), McCabe (55)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (57), Ristolainen (42), Scandella (31)
Shots: Eichel (128), Skinner (120), Olofsson (91)

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: 3-2-1 (7), 18/21, 4/13, 12/16

OVERTIME RESULTS (3-6; 123-134 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)

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
Jeff Skinner … 3 games … 700 career games played
Conor Sheary … 8 games … 300 career games played
Goals
Sam Reinhart … 1 goal … 100 career goals
Kyle Okposo … 9 goals … 200 career goals
Assists
Marco Scandella … 9 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Kyle Okposo … 5 points … 500 career points
Zach Bogosian … 8 points … 200 career points 

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Wednesday, October 16
Buffalo 2 at Anaheim 5
Goals: Eichel, Olofsson
Goalie: Ullmark (26 saves/30 shots)
PP: 1/7; PK: 3/4; Shots: Buffalo 33 – Anaheim 31

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 32)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (hip, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 7 games
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 7 games
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (hip; Oct. 3, injured reserve) – 7 games
Brandon Montour (hand, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 7 games
Conor Sheary (upper body, Oct. 9) – 4 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/13: Recalled F Curtis Lazar from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Oct. 19: Buffalo at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 22: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 24: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 28: Arizona at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at KINGS

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Kings this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Los Angeles 4-3 (OT) in Buffalo on Dec. 11, 2018.
• Next meeting: Saturday, Dec. 21 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Kings; 3-6-1 on the road.
• This is the 126th game all-time between Buffalo and Los Angeles; Buffalo has a 61-45-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 25-28-10 on the road against the Kings all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 9-14-2 all-time on October 17.
• October 17, 1974: Lee Fogolin and Don Luce score goals four seconds apart in the third period as the Sabres defeat the California Golden Seals 6-1.
• October 17, 1979: The Sabres top the Hartford Whalers 3-1 in the first ever meeting between the clubs.
• October 17, 1990: Gilbert Perreault’s No. 11 is raised to the rafters at Memorial Auditorium, making Perreault the first player in franchise history to have his number retired.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Through seven games, the Sabres have already gotten points from 17 different players and had 10 different players score at least one goal.
• Jack Eichel (4+6), Victor Olofsson (6+2), Rasmus Dahlin (1+7) and Sam Reinhart (3+4) have all tallied at least a point per game so far this season.
• The Sabres enter tonight’s game with the No. 2 power play in the league, converting on a league-high 10 of their 28 power plays this season (35.7%).
• With a win tonight, the Sabres would have three straight wins against the Kings for the first time since Oct. 23, 2003 to Jan. 14, 2006 and wins in consecutive visits to Los Angeles for the first time since March 12, 1994 and March 13, 1996.

HOT AGAINST LOS ANGELES

• Linus Ullmark has won all three of his career meetings with Los Angeles, logging a .929 save percentage in those games.
• Jack Eichel has 10 points (4+6) in five games against the Kings since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, including multi-point outings in each of his last three.
• Jeff Skinner has totaled 12 points (11+1) in 14 career games against Los Angeles, including nine (8+1) in his last nine and six goals in his last three.
• Zemgus Girgensons (1+1), Johan Larsson (1+1) and Evan Rodrigues (0+2) each tallied a point in both meetings with the Kings last season. Marco Scandella also enters tonight’s game with points in his last two games against the Kings (1+1).
• Rasmus Ristolainen has three points (1+2) in his last three games against Los Angeles.

TRE’ WHITE GOALIE ACADEMY ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

• Carter Hutton enters tonight’s game ranked in the top 10 in every major statistical category.
• He earned his first shutout as a member of the Sabres in his last game on Monday vs. Dallas and enters tonight’s game having played his last 68:36 without allowing a goal.
• Hutton has won each of his four games this season, tying for the league lead in wins, and now has wins in five straight appearances dating back to last season.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s first of 14 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 5-2 loss last night at Anaheim. The Sabres were 7-8-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 6-8-2 in the second game last season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in last season’s back-to-back sets was: four points (3), three points (1), two points (6), one point (2) and zero points (4).

VIC-O MODE

• All six of Victor Olofsson’s goals this season have come on the power play, tying James Neal for most in the league. He also leads all rookies in goals (6) and points (8), and leads rookie forwards in ice time per game (18:10).
• Since he made his NHL debut on March 28, 2019 vs. Detroit, no NHL player has scored more power-play goals than Olofsson’s eight in 13 games played. He has set an NHL record by becoming the first player in NHL history to score each of his first seven-plus career goals with a man advantage.

LET’S GET DANGEROUS

• According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres rank fifth in the league with a high-danger scoring chance percentage of 56.98%, at 5-on-5 through the team’s first seven games.*
• By this metric, Jeff Skinner leads all Sabres (and is tied for second in the NHL) with 10 high-danger scoring chances during 5-on-5 play. Skinner tied for ninth in the league with 94 high-danger scoring chances last season.
• Buffalo also ranks in the top three in the league in both total scoring chances against (2nd-fewest) and high-danger chances against (3rd-fewest) per 60 minutes played at 5-on-5.

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

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings)

• Buffalo Sabres: 35.7% PP% (2nd), 11 PTS (T-3rd), 5 W (T-3rd)
• Dahlin: 6 PPP (T-2nd), 7 A (T-9th)
• Eichel: 6 PPP (T-2nd), 2 PPG (T-6th), 10 PTS (T-7th)
• Hutton: 4 W (T-1st), 1 SO (T-1st), 1.74 GAA (5th), .931 SV% (8th)
• Johansson: 1 OTG (T-1st)
• McCabe: 20 BkS (2nd)
• Olofsson: 6 PPG (T-1st), 6 PPP (T-2nd), 6 G (T-3rd)
• Skinner: 35 S (1st)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Sobotka (17), McCabe (15), Ristolainen (14)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (20), Scandella (9), Ristolainen (8)
Shots: Skinner (35), Eichel (26), Ristolainen (19)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 5-1-1 (11), 27/18, 10/28, 16/21

OVERTIME RESULTS (1-1; 121-129 all-time)
Oct. 7 at CBJ: L, 4-3 (GWG-Texier, 2:08)
Oct. 9 vs. MTL: W, 5-4 (GWG-Johansson, 1:30)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 76-69 all-time)
Oct. 11 vs. FLA: W, 3-2 (GDG-Eichel)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Marcus Johansson … 5 games … 600 career games played
Jack Eichel … 7 games … 300 career games played
Carter Hutton … 8 games … 200 career games played
Goals
Sam Reinhart … 10 goals … 100 career goals
Points
Rasmus Ristolainen … 4 points … 200 career points
Kyle Okposo … 10 points … 500 career points
Jimmy Vesey … 10 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Jeff Skinner … 200th NHL assist … Oct. 17 at ANA

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, December 8
Philadelphia 6 at Buffalo 2
Goals: Eichel (2)
Goalie: Ullmark (35 saves/41 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 3/3; Shots: Philadelphia 41 – Buffalo 30

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 113)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 30 games
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 30 games
Marco Scandella (upper body, Nov. 27; injured reserve) – 6 games
Jake McCabe (upper body, Nov. 29; injured reserve) – 4 games
Casey Nelson (upper body, Dec. 8; injured reserve) – 1 game
Carter Hutton (upper body, Dec. 8) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/5: Assigned D Matt Tennyson to Rochester (AHL)
12/7: Recalled D Matt Tennyson and G Scott Wedgewood from Rochester (AHL); Placed D Casey Nelson on IR
12/11: Assigned G Scott Wedgewood to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Dec. 13: Arizona at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15: Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 16: Buffalo at Boston, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 18: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 21: Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
KINGS at SABRES

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Kings this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Los Angeles 5-1 in Los Angeles on Oct. 20
• The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Kings; 8-2-0 at home.
• This is the 125th game all-time between Buffalo and Los Angeles; Buffalo has a 60-45-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 35-17-9 at home against the Kings all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 10-8-1 all-time on December 11.
• December 11, 1992: The Sabres get goals from seven different players in a 9-3 rout of the Hartford Whalers.
• December 11, 1993: Dominik Hasek records his third of five shutouts in a 12-game span, blanking the Hartford Whalers with a 25-save performance.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• With a 17-9-4 record through 30 games this season, the Sabres have posted the team’s 12th best record through 30 games in franchise history and the best since they started the 2008-09 season 19-9-2. The Sabres have made the playoffs in each of the 15 previous seasons in which the team has recorded more than 33 points through the first 30 games.
• Jack Eichel recorded his 14th multi-point game of the season with two goals on Saturday vs. Philadelphia. Entering play Monday, Eichel’s 14 multi-point games ranked third in the league this season, one behind co-leaders Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon. He is now four shy of his career-high 18 in a season.
• Rasmus Ristolainen has totaled nine points (1+8) in his last 10 games, marking his most productive 10-game stretch since January 2018.
• With a win tonight, the Sabres would earn their first season sweep of the Kings since the teams began playing a two-game series every season in 2013-14. The last season in which Buffalo defeated Los Angeles twice was 1993-94.

HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE

• With the exception of the 2011 NHL Premiere meeting between these teams in Berlin, the home team has won 15 of the last 17 games between the Sabres and the Kings. During this span, the lone losses by teams in their home arenas came in the last two matchups between the teams.
• The Kings are seeking consecutive wins in Buffalo for the first time since Feb. 9, 1992 and March 15, 1993. Since then, the Sabres are 14-2-1 (one tie) in their last 17 home games against Los Angeles. During this stretch, the Sabres have outscored the Kings 69-29 on home ice.

KING SLAYERS

• Linus Ullmark has stopped 39 of 41 shots (.951) in his two career meetings with Los Angeles, earning wins on both occasions.
• Jack Eichel has eight points (3+5) in four games against the Kings since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.
• Jeff Skinner has totaled 11 points (10+1) in 13 career games against Los Angeles, including eight (7+1) in his last eight and five goals in his last two.
• Jason Pominville has recorded nine points (2+7) in his last six games against the Kings.
• Kyle Okposo has totaled five assists in his last five games against Los Angeles.

HOME COOKING
The Sabres have gone 7-1-2 in their last 10 home games. Buffalo enters today’s game with a 9-3-2 (.714) record at home this season. The team’s .714 points percentage at home tied for sixth in the NHL entering play Monday and puts the Sabres on pace for their eighth-best home record ever, and the best since the 1982-83 season (25-7-8, .725).

COMEBACK KIDS

• The Sabres are 5-7-2 this season when trailing after two periods. Their five wins when trailing after 40 minutes ranked as the second-most in the league entering play Monday.
• Buffalo’s five wins when trailing after two have already matched last season’s total and leave the team four third-period comebacks shy of the franchise record of nine set in the 2005-06 season.

NOT TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT

• The Sabres are 10-2-4 in one-goal games so far this season. Buffalo last won more than half of its one-goal games in a season in 2011-12 (21-9-11).
• The team’s current .625 winning percentage in one-goal games would be the sixth-best mark in franchise history and would be the Sabres’ best record in one-goal games since 1989-90 (18-6-3, .667).

SAM I AM

• Sam Reinhart enters tonight’s game on a career-best, six-game point streak (5+4), topping his previous career high of five games set from Dec. 20 to 29, 2017.
• Reinhart has recorded 22 points (8+14) in his last 22 games, including eight two-point games during that stretch. With eight multi-point games through 30 games played this season, he is two shy of his career-high 10 in a season.
• The Sabres are 12-3-2 this season when Reinhart records at least one point and 25-3-5 (.833) in his career when he records at least two.

DYNAMIC DUO
Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner are currently on pace to shatter their personal bests in points and make a mark in the Sabres’ record books on the strength of career-best production at even strength that ranks them among the best even-strength players in the league this season.

• If he maintains his current pace, Eichel would finish the season with the third-most even-strength points ever recorded by a Sabre (77), trailing only Pat LaFontaine (83) and Alexander Mogilny (78) in 1992-93, and would top LaFontaine’s franchise-record 52 even-strength assists that season. He would also become the first Sabre to record more than 95 points since the 1992-93 season (LaFontaine/Mogilny/Hawerchuk).
• Skinner is currently on pace for the third-highest goal total (55) in Sabres history, trailing only Mogilny in 1992-93 (76) and Danny Gare in 1979-80 (56). His 41 even-strength goals would finish behind only Mogilny’s even-strength total from 1992-93 (49) and Rick Martin’s 44 in 1973-74 for most in team history.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 12/10 games)

• Buffalo Sabres: 17 W (T-6th), 37 PTS (T-6th)
• Eichel: 128 S (1st), 20 EVA (T-3rd), 28 EVP (T-4th), 27 A (5th), 36 P (T-9th)
• Hutton: 12 W (T-5th)
• Ristolainen: 94 hits (5th), 25:31 TOI/GP (8th)
• Skinner: 15 EVG (T-1st), 2 OTG (T-2nd), plus-19 (T-2nd), 20 G (T-4th), 3 GWG (T-9th)

BUF-LAK CONNECTIONS
Former Kings:

• Sabres assistant coach Davis Payne was on the coaching staff in Los Angeles from 2012 to 2017. He won two Stanley Cups (2012, 2014) with the club.

Kings with Western New York ties:

• Kings F Alex Iafallo is a native of Eden, New York. He grew up a fan of the Buffalo Sabres and played youth hockey for the Buffalo Regals. His sister, Julianna, is a forward for the Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL.

Jason Botterill:

• Played with Kings assistant coach Dave Lowry in Calgary.

Phil Housley:

• Played with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford in Washington.

Kyle Okposo:

• Played for the Islanders with Kings F Nate Thompson.

Davis Payne:

• Played with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford in Boston.

Steve Smith:

• Played with Kings assistant coach Dave Lowry in Calgary.
• Played with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford in Edmonton.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (94), Girgensons (48), McCabe (42)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (52), Bogosian (46), McCabe (44)
Shots: Eichel (128), Skinner (88), Ristolainen (70)

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

OVERTIME RESULTS (4-4; 117-125 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)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (3-0; 73-66 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)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Remi Elie … 2 games … 100 career games played
Vladimir Sobotka … 10 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Jason Pominville … 1 goal … 211 goals with Sabres (T-11th in franchise history)
Assists
Kyle Okposo … 5 assists … 300 career assists
Sam Reinhart … 8 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Jason Pominville … 3 points … 511 points with Sabres (T-8th in franchise history)

RECENT MILESTONES
Kyle Okposo … 700th NHL game … Dec. 8 vs. PHI
Lawrence Pilut … 1st NHL point (assist) … Dec. 8 vs. PHI