Tag Archives: Montreal Canadiens

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Monday, March 9
Washington 2 at Buffalo 3 (SO)
Goals: Olofsson, Eichel; GDG – Kahun
Goalie: Ullmark (33 saves/35 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Washington 35 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 330)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 69 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 53 games
Tage Thompson (shoulder, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 49 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/6: Activated G Linus Ullmark from IR; Assigned G Jonas Johansson to Rochester (AHL)
3/7: Recalled D John Gilmour from Rochester (AHL)
3/8: Assigned D John Gilmour to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, March 13: Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 15: Carolina at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, March 17: Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 19: Buffalo at Florida, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 21: Chicago at Buffalo, 2 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CANADIENS

• This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
• Last meeting: Montreal defeated Buffalo 3-1 in Buffalo on Jan. 30.
• Next meeting: Tuesday, March 24 in Montreal
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 5-4-1 on the road.
• This is the 286th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; Buffalo has a 130-114-41 series record.
• The Sabres are 55-73-14 on the road against the Canadiens all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 13-10-2 all-time on March 12.
• March 12, 2008: Mike Weber records his first NHL point with an assist at Pittsburgh.
• March 12, 2016: Jack Eichel scores the latest regular-season goal in franchise history at 4:59 of overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Jeff Skinner has recorded 20 points (14+6) in 21 games against Montreal since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, including eight points (5+3) in six games against the Canadiens since joining the Sabres in 2018-19.
• Marcus Johansson has nine points (1+8) in his last nine games against the Canadiens, including points in each of his four games against Montreal since the beginning of last season (1+5).
• Jack Eichel has recorded at least a point in each of his last five matchups with Montreal, totaling 11 points (4+7) in those contests.
• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded six assists in six career games against the Canadiens.
• Sam Reinhart has totaled five points (2+3) in six meetings with Montreal since the beginning of last season, including three points (1+2) in two road games.

KAHUNA MATATA

• Since joining the Sabres at the trade deadline, Dominik Kahun has totaled four points (2+2) in six games. He also scored the game-deciding shootout goal on Monday vs. Washington with his second career shootout attempt.
• In his six games with Buffalo, Kahun has led the team with 1.72 goals per 60 minutes of ice time during 5-on-5 play. He ranks second behind Marcus Johansson (4.07) with 3.45 points per 60 in those games.
• Kahun’s full-season per-60 totals also rank among the team’s leaders: His .90 goals per 60 in 2019-20 rank behind only Jeff Skinner (1.06) and Jack Eichel (.91), and his 1.53 assists and 2.43 points per 60 lead all Sabres this season.

Per-60 stats via NaturalStatTrick.com

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens Buffalo’s 13th of 14 sets of back-to-back games this season, which continues tomorrow night vs. Boston. The Sabres are 4-6-2 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 6-5-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is: four points (1), three points (3), two points (5), one point (0) and zero points (3).

TEEN TITAN

• Rasmus Dahlin has totaled 84 points (13+71) through his first 141 NHL games, including 40 points (4+36) in 59 games this season. He has already surpassed his assist total from his 82-game rookie season and is four points from tying his rookie point total.
• 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.
• Dahlin’s 71 career assists tie Dan Quinn’s total as a teenager for the 12th-most ever recorded by an NHL player before his 20th birthday. His next assist will tie Brian Bellows and Bobby Carpenter for 10th-most.
• Dahlin’s .60 points per game in his career rank as the 14th-highest rate among active NHL defensemen with at least 10 career games played. His .678 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

• Jack Eichel is currently on pace to finish the season with 43 goals and 93 points, which would be the highest goal and point totals by aa Sabre since Thomas Vanek (43 goals) and Daniel Briere (95 points) in 2006-07.
• Victor Olofsson, who has missed 15 games due to injury this season, is on pace to score 25 goals. If he maintains his current pace, his output will tie Thomas Vanek (2005-06) for sixth-most among all rookies in franchise history. His 52 points would rank him 10th among all-time Sabres rookies.

JACK ATTACK

• With an assist on Feb. 11 vs. Detroit, Jack Eichel became the 14th player ever to record 70 points in consecutive seasons at least once as a member of the Sabres.
  • He needs two 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, tied for the 13th-most in the NHL entering play Wednesday. The Sabres are 15-3-2 (.800) in those games.
• Eichel’s seven multi-goal games ranked sixth in the league and his 11 multi-assist games tied for 11th-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 3/11 games)

• Eichel: 3 OTG (T-2nd), 9 GWG (T-3rd), 36 G (T-7th), 27 PPP (T-8th), 78 PTS (T-10th), 24 EVG (T-10th)
• Ristolainen: 203 hits (8th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (203), Girgensons (110), McCabe (91)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (90), Ristolainen (82), Jokiharju (63)
Shots: Eichel (227), Skinner (183), Reinhart (144)

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: 3-6-0 (6), 20/27, 3/23, 14/18

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 (2-2; 77-71 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)
March 9 vs. WSH: W, 3-2 (GDG-Kahun)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Linus Ullmark … 3 games … 100 career games played
Johan Larsson … 7 games … 400 career games played
Rasmus Ristolainen … 7 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Kyle Okposo … 4 goals … 200 career goals
Points
Wayne Simmonds … 1 point … 500 career points
Johan Larsson … 3 points … 100 career points
Brandon Montour … 9 points … 100 career points
Wins
Carter Hutton … 7 wins … 100 career wins 

RECENT MILESTONES
Colin Miller … 300th NHL game … March 7 at PHI
Kyle Okposo … 800th NHL game … March 9 vs. WSH
Sam Reinhart … 400th NHL game … March 9 vs. WSH

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, January 28
Ottawa 5 at Buffalo 2
Goals: Reinhart, Eichel
Goalie: Ullmark (30 saves/33 shots) / Hutton (4 saves/4 shots); 2 ENG
PP: 1/4; PK: 1/4; Shots: Ottawa 39 – Buffalo 30

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 231)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 50 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 34 games
Tage Thompson (shoulder, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 30 games
Victor Olofsson (lower body, Jan. 4; injured reserve) – 8 games
Linus Ullmark (lower body, Jan. 30) – 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)

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Feb. 1: Columbus at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
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.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CANADIENS at SABRES

• This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Montreal 5-4 (OT) in Buffalo on Oct. 9, 2019.
• Next meeting: Thursday, March 12 in Montreal
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 5-3-2 at home.
• This is the 285th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; Buffalo has a 130-113-41 series record.
• The Sabres are 75-40-27 at home against the Canadiens all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 10-6-3 all-time on January 30.
• January 30, 2007: Daniel Briere scores his second of two hat tricks as a member of the Sabres as the Sabres defeat the Bruins 7-1 in Buffalo.
• January 30, 2008: Ryan Miller stops all 32 Florida shots and Thomas Vanek scores the lone Buffalo goal as the Sabres defeat the Panthers 1-0 in Florida.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Buffalo is 4-1-0 against Montreal since the beginning of last season. A win tonight would give the Sabres wins in four straight visits from the Canadiens for the first time since they won seven consecutive matchups in Buffalo from Dec. 26, 2001 to March 24, 2004.
• Jack Eichel has been held without a point in just three of his last 31 games played. During that stretch, which began with a four-goal performance vs. Ottawa on Nov. 16, Buffalo’s captain has totaled 44 points (21+23) in 31 appearances, also missing one game due to injury.
  • Entering play Wednesday, Eichel trailed only Artemi Panarin (47) and Nathan MacKinnon (46) for the most points in the league during that timeframe.
• Sam Reinhart has totaled 22 points (9+13) in the Sabres’ last 22 contests, including at least a point in eight of the last nine (6+5).

HOT AGAINST MONTREAL

• Jeff Skinner has recorded 20 points (14+6) in 20 games against Montreal since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, including eight points (5+3) in five games against the Canadiens since joining the Sabres in 2018-19.
• Marcus Johansson has eight points (1+7) in his last eight games against the Canadiens, including points in each of his three games against Montreal since the beginning of last season.
• Jack Eichel has recorded a multi-point game in each of his last four matchups with Montreal, totaling 10 points (3+7) in those contests.
• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded five assists in five career games against the Canadiens.
• Sam Reinhart has totaled five points (2+3) in five meetings with Montreal since the beginning of last season.
• Colin Miller enters tonight’s game with an assist in each of his last three games against the Canadiens.

HOME COOKING

• Tonight’s game is the second 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 Sabres are 14-7-3 through their first 24 home games of the season. The team’s .646 points percentage at home ranked 13th in the NHL before Wednesday’s games. If they finished the season at this pace, it would rank as the Sabres’ 20th-best home record in franchise history.
• The team is averaging 3.38 goals per game at home this season, which would mark Buffalo’s best home scoring rate since the 2007-08 season (3.39).
• With 39 points (21+18) in 24 home games this season, Jack Eichel’s 1.63 points per game at home ranked third in the league entering play Wednesday. His plus-19 rating at home tied for the league lead.
• Sam Reinhart (12+13) is also producing at over a point-per-game rate through 24 home games this season. Reinhart has totaled 14 points (6+8) in his last 10 games at KeyBank Center, including five multi-point outings.

30/30 CLUB

• Jack Eichel, who has already recorded a career-high 29 goals this season, is one goal away from becoming the first Sabres player to record 30 goals and 30 assists in a season since Jason Pominville (30+43) in 2011-12.
• He would become 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.
• With a goal tonight, Eichel would reach 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 five 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 72 points (12+60) through his first 124 NHL games, including 28 points (3+25) in 42 games this season.
• With his assist on Jan.18 at Dallas, Dahlin tied 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.
• Entering play Wednesday, Dahlin’s .58 points per game in his career ranked as the 20th-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).
• Eichel’s output through 50 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 48 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 71 Eichel is currently on pace for.
• Sam Reinhart is currently on pace to set career-high totals in goals (30) and points (69).

JACK ATTACK

• Entering play Wednesday, Jack Eichel’s 29 goals this season ranked him fifth among all NHL players and his 63 points tied for 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 33 games played since then, he has totaled 46 points (22+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 Wednesday’s games. The Sabres are 12-3-2 (.765) in those games.
• Entering play Wednesday, Eichel’s six multi-goal games tied for third-most in the league and his nine multi-assist games tied for eighth-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 Wednesday.
• 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 1/29 games)

• Eichel: 22 EVG (T-3rd), 6 GWG (T-3rd), 43 EVP (T-4th), 29 G (5th), 63 PTS (T-8th)
• Hutton: 2 SO (T-8th)
• Olofsson: 9 PPG (T-8th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (149), Girgensons (78), McCabe (65)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (63), Ristolainen (56), Jokiharju (45)
Shots: Eichel (166), Skinner (129), 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

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