Tag Archives: St. Louis Blues

Game Preview: 1/9/20 at St. Louis

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

Game Notes NHL Stats Press Clips

LAST GAME
Saturday, January 4
Florida 2 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Jokiharju, Sheary, Reinhart
Goalie: Ullmark (32 saves/34 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 3/3; Shots: Florida 34 – Buffalo 18

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 196)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 43 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 27 games
Tage Thompson (upper body, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 23 games
Jeff Skinner (upper body, Dec. 29; injured reserve) – 4 games
Victor Olofsson (lower body, Jan. 4; injured reserve) – 1 game
Jake McCabe (upper body, Jan. 9) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/3: Recalled F Scott Wilson from Rochester (AHL)
1/6: Assigned F Dalton Smith to Rochester (AHL)
1/7: Recalled D Lawrence Pilut from Rochester (AHL)
1/8: Placed F Victor Olofsson on IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Jan. 11: Vancouver at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 12: Buffalo at Detroit, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 14: Vegas at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 16: Buffalo at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 18: Buffalo at Nashville, 8 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BLUES

  • This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Blues this season.
  • Last meeting: Buffalo defeated St. Louis 5-2 in Buffalo on Dec. 10, 2019
  • The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Blues; 1-5-4 on the road.
  • This is the 122nd game all-time between Buffalo and St. Louis; Buffalo has a 48-56-17 series record.
  • The Sabres are 15-33-11 on the road against the Blues all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

  • The Sabres are 7-9-4 all-time on January 9.
  • January 9, 1977: Andre Savard scores three times in a span of 6:25 in the first period to earn the fourth natural hat trick in franchise history and help the Sabres down the Cleveland Barons 7-4 at the Aud.
  • January 9, 2007: Danny Briere, Brian Campbell and Ryan Miller are announced as starters for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • After earning wins in the last two meetings between these teams, the Sabres are looking for their first win in St. Louis since Dec. 27, 2009.
  • With a win tonight, the Sabres would have three straight wins against the Blues for the first time since Oct. 22, 1995 to Nov. 1, 1996.
  • Linus Ullmark has stopped 79 of 85 shots (.929) in his three career meetings with the Blues.
  • Sam Reinhart has recorded a point in each of his four career games in St. Louis (2+2).
  • Jack Eichel has scored three goals in the three games between the Sabres and Blues since the beginning of last season.
  • Johan Larsson (2+1), Zemgus Girgensons (1+2), Brandon Montour (0+2) and Zach Bogosian (0+2) all enter tonight’s game with points in each of Buffalo’s last two games against St. Louis. Jimmy Vesey (1+1) has also posted points in both of his last two games against the Blues.
  • Henri Jokiharju has recorded three assists in two career visits to St. Louis, including his first two NHL points on Oct. 6, 2018 as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
  • Rasmus Dahlin’s .63 points per game so far this season represent the best scoring rate by a Sabres defenseman since Brian Campbell (.68) in 2007-08.

WHO’S HOT?

  • Marcus Johansson enters tonight’s game on a four-game point streak (1+5), marking his longest streak of the season. A point tonight would give him his longest point streak since he tallied points in five straight games from March 23 to 31, 2017 (1+9).
  • Jack Eichel has recorded points in each of Buffalo’s last four games (2+2). His current stretch trails only his run of 18 consecutive games played with a point (Nov. 16 to Dec. 21) for his longest streak this season.
  • Conor Sheary has recorded four points (2+2) in Buffalo’s last three games.
  • Sam Reinhart has totaled four points (2+2) in the Sabres’ last four contests.
  • Linus Ullmark has earned wins in each of his last two starts, stopping 57 of 61 shots faced (.934) against the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.

WELCOME TO BUFFALO

  • Michael Frolik is expected to make his Sabres debut in tonight’s game.
  • The Sabres acquired Frolik on Jan. 2 from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
  • The 12-year NHL veteran has scored at least 15 goals in five of the last six seasons, including at least 10 goals at even strength in each of those five seasons.
  • Frolik has totaled 19 points (7+12) in 47 career NHL playoff contests, appearing in the postseason six times. He played in all 23 playoff games for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013, culminating in his first Stanley Cup championship.
  • He has represented the Czech Republic in major international tournaments nine times in his career. Most recently, he served as an alternate captain and recorded 14 points (7+7) in 10 games at the 2019 IIHF World Championship.

TAKE ME TO THE PILUT

  • The Sabres recalled defenseman Lawrence Pilut from the Rochester Americans on Tuesday. He had totaled seven points (3+4) in his last seven games with the Amerks prior to being recalled.
  • Pilut, who was previously recalled for the team’s trip to Sweden for the 2019 NHL Global Series, has yet to appear in an NHL game this season.
  • The Tingsryd, Sweden native played in 33 games with the Sabres during his first NHL season in 2018-19 and led all AHL defensemen (min. 5 GP) with .87 points per game after totaling 26 points (4+22) with the Americans last season.
  • He has been selected to play in the AHL All-Star Classic in both of his first two AHL seasons (didn’t participate in 2019 due to a recall to Buffalo).

JACK ATTACK

  • Entering play Wednesday, Jack Eichel’s 26 goals tied for third among all NHL players and his 55 points tied for eighth in the league.
  • Eichel has been selected to represent the Sabres at NHL All-Star Weekend on Jan. 24 and 25 in St. Louis. With his third consecutive All-Star nod, Eichel becomes the seventh player in franchise history to represent the team in at least three NHL All-Star Games, joining Rick Martin (7), Gilbert Perreault (6), Dominik Hasek (5), Mike Ramsey (4), Phil Housley (3) and Alexander Mogilny (3).
  • With his 50th point of the season on Dec. 17 at Toronto, Eichel became the first Sabre 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 hasn’t been held without a point in three consecutive appearances since early November. In his 26 games played since then, he has totaled 38 points (19+19), including a stretch of 18 straight games (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.
  • The streak was the NHL’s fifth-longest personal point streak in the last decade, trailing only Taylor Hall (26 in 2017-18), Patrick Kane (26 in 2015-16), Sidney Crosby (25 in 2010-11) and Patrick Kane (20 in 2018-19).

SETTING THE PACE

  • With 26 goals in 42 games so far this season, Jack Eichel is two goals from tying his previous best total set in the 2018-19 season.
  • Eichel’s output through 43 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 50 goals and 106 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 73 Eichel is currently on pace for.
  • Sam Reinhart’s 14 goals in 43 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 11th-most in the NHL before Wednesday’s games.
  • Entering play Wednesday, his six multi-goal games tied for second-most in the league and his eight multi-assist games tied for seventh-most.
  • 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 (10) and Leon Draisaitl (8) had more games with at least three points this season entering play Wednesday.
  • Eichel’s three games with at least four points this season tied for third-most in the league before Wednesday’s games. Since he entered the league in 2015-16, only nine players had totaled at least four points more times than Eichel’s eight: Nikita Kucherov (15), Patrick Kane (12), Connor McDavid (11), Johnny Gaudreau (9), Nathan MacKinnon (0), Brad Marchand (9), Alex Ovechkin (9), Artemi Panarin (9) and Steven Stamkos (9).

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 1/8 games)

  • Eichel: 19 EVG (2nd), 26 G (T-3rd), 5 GWG (T-6th), 38 EVP (T-7th), 55 PTS (T-8th)
  • Hutton: 2 SO (T-5th)
  • Olofsson: 9 PPG (T-3rd)
  • Ristolainen: 133 hits (T-10th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (133), Girgensons (65), McCabe (60)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (61), Ristolainen (51), Jokiharju (37)
Shots: Eichel (147), Skinner (128), Olofsson (99)

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: 2-1-0 (4), 10/10, 1/9, 7/9

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
Conor Sheary … 2 games … 300 career games played
Linus Ullmark … 10 games … 100 career games played
Goals
Kyle Okposo … 9 goals … 200 career goals
Points
Kyle Okposo … 5 points … 500 career points
Zach Bogosian … 7 points … 200 career points
Johan Larsson … 9 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A

Post-Game Report: 12/10 vs. St. Louis

Final Score

1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final SOG
Blues
(18-8-6)
1 0 1 2 30
Sabres
(15-11-6)
1 1 3 5 33

Game Summary

Event Summary

 

Top Notes

  • Sam Reinhart opened the scoring just 18 seconds into tonight’s game. It was the Sabres’ fastest goal from the beginning of a game since Johan Larsson scored 18 seconds into a 4-3 victory on Dec. 1, 2016 against the New York Rangers.
  • Jack Eichel scored twice tonight, becoming the third player in the NHL to reach the 20-goal mark this season and extending his career-best point streak to 14 games (12+13). He’s now one game shy of Patrick Kane’s 15-game streak for the longest in the NHL this season.
  • Eichel’s second goal was the 13th empty-net goal of his career, tying Gilbert Perreault and Miroslav Satan for the most empty-netters in Sabres history.
  • With his goal and an assist tonight, Reinhart now has five points (3+2) in his last four games.
  • After recording two assists tonight, Victor Olofsson now has 18 points (6+12) in his last 17 games, including two-point performances in four of the team’s last five games.
  • With a two-point night (1+1), Johan Larsson has recorded his first three-game point streak since November 2016. He now has nine points (2+7) and a plus-9 rating in Buffalo’s last seven contests.
  • Linus Ullmark made 28 saves in the win. He has now stopped 79 of 85 shots (.929) in his three career meetings with St. Louis.
  • Ullmark is now 5-1-1 with a .923 save percentage in his last seven appearances.

 

Tonight’s Goaltenders

Tonight’s Stats
Team Goaltender Decision GA SA
Blues Allen L 3 31
Sabres Ullmark W 2 30
Updated Season Stats
Team Goaltender Record SV% GAA
Blues Allen 5-2-2 .925 2.33
Sabres Ullmark 9-6-2 .915 2.83

 

Post-Game Audio

Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger

Sabres forward Jack Eichel

Sabres forward Johan Larsson

Sabres goaltender Linus Ullmark

Blues head coach Craig Berube

Blues forward Troy Brouwer

Blues forward David Perron

Blues goaltender Jake Allen

Game Preview: 12/10/19 vs. St. Louis

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

Game Notes NHL Stats Press Clips

LAST GAME
Sunday, December 8
Buffalo 3 at Edmonton 2 (OT)
Goals: Okposo, Larsson, Miller
Goalie: Ullmark (26 saves/28 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 2/3; Shots: Edmonton 28 – Buffalo 22

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 147)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 31 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 15 games
Tage Thompson (upper body, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 11 games
Rasmus Dahlin (concussion, Nov. 27; injured reserve) – 7 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/4: Assigned F Jean-Sebastien Dea to Rochester (AHL)
12/7: Activated F Kyle Okposo from IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Dec. 10: St. Louis at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 12: Nashville at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 14: Buffalo at NY Islanders, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 17: Buffalo at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 19: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
BLUES at SABRES

  • This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Blues this season.
  • Last meeting: Buffalo defeated St. Louis 4-3 (SO) in Buffalo on March 17
  • Next meeting: Thursday, Jan. 9 in St. Louis
  • The Sabres are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Blues; 3-7-0 at home.
  • This is the 121st game all-time between Buffalo and St. Louis; Buffalo has a 47-56-17 series record.
  • The Sabres are 32-23-6 at home against the Blues all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

  • The Sabres are 10-8-2 all-time on December 10.
  • December 10, 1983: Phil Housley records his 100th NHL point in a 4-2 win at Boston. Housley remains the only defenseman ever to record 100 points for the Sabres before his 20th birthday.
  • December 10, 1989: Dave Andreychuk records his 500th NHL point in a 4-3 win vs. Washington. Andreychuk, who ranks second in Sabres history with 804 points, is one of just 10 players to record 500 points with the team.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • After winning the last meeting between the teams in a shootout, the Sabres are looking for consecutive wins against the Blues for the first time since Nov. 12, 2008 and Dec. 27, 2009.
  • Linus Ullmark has stopped 51 of 55 shots (.927) in his two career meetings with St. Louis.
  • According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Sabres entered play Monday with three players among the league’s leaders in 5-on-5 goals: Jeff Skinner (11, T-7th), Jack Eichel (9, T-15th), Sam Reinhart 9, T-15th).

WHO’S HOT?

  • Jack Eichel has been selected as the NHL’s Third Star of the Week for the week ending Dec. 8 after leading all NHL players with seven points (2+5) in four games last week. It is the fifth “Star of the Week” honor for Eichel in his career and his first of the 2019-20 season.
  • Johan Larsson enters tonight’s game with seven points (1+6) and a plus-6 rating in Buffalo’s last six contests. A point tonight would give him his first three-game point streak since November 2016.
  • Kyle Okposo has scored a goal in both games since returning from a 10-game injury absence. He’s seeking his first three-game goal streak since October 2018.
  • Marcus Johansson currently has points in three straight games (1+2) and his seeking his first four-game point streak since January.
  • Victor Olofsson has recorded 16 points (6+10) in his last 16 games.
  • Linus Ullmark is 4-1-1 with a .922 save percentage in his last six appearances. In those games, Ullmark has posted a .941 save percentage at 5-on-5.

JACK ATTACK

  • Jack Eichel enters today’s game on a career-best 13-game point streak that began on Nov. 16. Entering play Monday, his 10 goals, 23 points and plus-13 rating during the streak all led the NHL during that timeframe. His 13 assists tied Evgeni Malkin for the league lead.
  • Eichel’s streak is the longest active point streak in the NHL and ties as the second-longest streak in the league this season, two games shy of Patrick Kane’s 15-game streak from Nov. 2 to 30 (11+13)
  • The streak is the longest by a Sabre since Tim Connolly tallied points in 16 consecutive games from Dec. 23, 2009 to Jan. 25, 2010. Only six players in Sabres history have recorded a point streak of more than 13 games: Dave Andreychuk (2x), Gilbert Perreault (2x), Tim Connolly, Phil Housley, Rick Martin and Rene Robert.
  • Gilbert Perreault holds Buffalo’s franchise record with points in 18 consecutive games from Oct. 24 to Dec. 4, 1971 (10+21).

EVEN-STRENGTH IMPROVEMENT
The Sabres have seen positive trends at even strength in the team’s 14 games since returning from Stockholm, Sweden. In that span, Buffalo’s 5-on-5 numbers have improved on the team’s per-60 rates from its first 17 games in every meaningful category, including goals for and against, shots for and against, shot attempts for and against, and scoring chances for and against.

Buffalo Sabres at 5-on-5 (via NaturalStatTrick.com)

GF% SF% CF% SCF%
First 17 Games 50.79 48.21 48.61 47.72
Last 14 Games 57.89 50.68 51.16 49.91

During the 14-game stretch that began on Nov. 14 vs. Carolina, the team has tied or led its opponent at 5-on-5 in…

  • goals: 10 times
  • shots: nine times
  • shot attempts: nine times
  • scoring chances: nine times

SETTING THE PACE

  • With 18 goals in 31 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 31 games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 48 goals and 111 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) and Mogilny (78) in 1992-93 are the only two Sabres ever to have recorded more even-strength points in a season than the 77 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 (32) since Ray Sheppard’s 38 in 1987-88 and the most points by a Sabres rookie (69) since Rick Martin’s franchise-record 74 in 1971-72. Gilbert Perreault (72 in 1970-71) is the only other player in franchise history to finish his rookie season with a point total higher than Olofsson’s current pace.
  • Sam Reinhart’s 11 goals in 31 games put him on pace for a career-high goal total (29).

POINTS IN BUNCHES

  • Jack Eichel has recorded 11 multi-point games this season, tying for ninth-most in the NHL before Monday’s games.
  • Entering play Monday, his four multi-goal games tied for fourth-most (one shy of the league lead) and his eight multi-assist games tied for the league lead.
  • 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 Leon Draisaitl (8) and Connor McDavid (8) had more games with at least three points this season entering play Monday.
  • Eichel’s three games with at least four points this season tied for the league lead entering play Monday. 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 (10), Connor McDavid (10), Johnny Gaudreau (9), Brad Marchand (9), Alex Ovechkin (9) and Steven Stamkos (9).

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 12/9 games)

  • Eichel: 18 G (T-5th), 13 EVG (T-4th), 29 EVP (T-5th), 42 PTS (7th), 24 A (8th),111 S (T-10th)
  • Hutton: 2 SO (T-2nd)
  • Olofsson: 7 PPG (T-5th)
  • Ristolainen: 95 hits (9th)
  • Skinner: 115 S (T-6th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (95), McCabe (46), Girgensons (45)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (50), Ristolainen (40), Jokiharju (28)
Shots: Skinner (115), Eichel (111), Olofsson (75)

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: 1-0-0 (2), 3/2, 0/3, 2/3

OVERTIME RESULTS (3-5; 123-133 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)

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 … 8 games … 700 career games played
Goals
Sam Reinhart … 2 goals … 100 career goals
Kyle Okposo … 10 goals … 200 career goals
Assists
Marco Scandella … 9 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Jimmy Vesey … 2 points … 100 career points
Kyle Okposo … 6 points … 500 career points
Zach Bogosian … 9 points … 200 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Rasmus Asplund … 1st NHL goal … Dec. 2 vs. NJD
Jack Eichel … 300th NHL point … Dec. 7 at VAN

Post-Game Report: 3/17 vs. St. Louis

Final Score

1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final SOG
Blues
(37-27-8)
1 1 1 0 0 3 33
Sabres
(31-32-9)
2 1 0 0 1 4 34

Game Summary

Event Summary

 

Top Notes

  • With the win, the Sabres improved to 20-12-4 at KeyBank Center this season.
  • Sam Reinhart scored his third shootout winner of the season, tying Ryan Johansen and Kevin Shattenkirk for most in the NHL in 2018-19. He is one shy of the Sabres’ single-season record set by Ales Kotalik in 2006-07.
    • His four career game-deciding goals tie Maxim Afinogenov, Daniel Briere and Zemgus Girgensons for sixth-most in Sabres history.
  • The Sabres also got goals from Johan Larsson, Evan Rodrigues and Conor Sheary in regulation.
  • Brandon Montour’s 24th assist of the 2018-19 season set a new career high in his 72nd game. He now sits one point shy of tying his career-high total of 32 points, set in 80 games last season.
  • Alexander Nylander recorded two primary assists for his first career two-point game.
  • With an assist tonight, Rasmus Dahlin now has 38 points (8+30) on the season. It ties him with Bobby Orr for second-most points by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history, trailing only Phil Housley (57 points in 1982-83).

 

Tonight’s Goaltenders

Tonight’s Stats
Team Goaltender Decision SV% GAA
Blues Allen O .912 2.77
Sabres Hutton W .909 2.77

 

Updated Season Stats
Team Goaltender Record SV% GAA
Blues Allen 18-17-7 .904 2.85
Sabres Hutton 17-20-5 .910 2.88

 

Post-Game Audio

Sabres head coach Phil Housley

Sabres forward Conor Sheary

Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues

Sabres goaltender Carter Hutton

Blues head coach Craig Berube

Blues forward Ryan O’Reilly

Blues forward Brayden Schenn

Blues forward Pat Maroon

Game Preview: 3/17/19 vs. St. Louis

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

Game Notes NHL Stats Press Clips

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 16
Buffalo 2 at Carolina 4
Goals: Skinner, Girgensons
Goalie: Ullmark (25 saves/29 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 1/1; Shots: Buffalo 37 – Carolina 29

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 212)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Jake McCabe (upper body, March 4) – 6 games
Marco Scandella (upper body, March 16) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, March 20: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 23: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, March 25: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 26: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 28: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
BLUES at SABRES

  • This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Blues this season.
  • Last meeting: St. Louis defeated Buffalo 4-1-0 in St. Louis on Dec. 27, 2018
  • The Sabres are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Blues, 2-8-0 at home.
  • This is the 120th game all-time between Buffalo and St. Louis; Buffalo has a 46-56-17 series record.
  • The Sabres are 31-23-6 at home against the Blues all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

  • The Sabres are 11-10-3 all-time on March 17.
  • March 17, 1997: Donald Audette scores twice and Rob Ray fights Jeff Odgers to become the 30th player in NHL history to record 2,000 penalty minutes in his career during a 5-1 win at home against Boston.
  • March 17, 2001: Martin Biron makes 42 saves and Chris Gratton scores the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win at Washington.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  • The Sabres have won their last three games on St. Patrick’s Day.
  • Jeff Skinner has totaled 12 points (9+3) in his last 11 games against the Blues.
  • Linus Ullmark has stopped 51 of 55 shots (.927) in his two career meetings with St. Louis.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 14th of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 4-2 loss last night at Carolina. The Sabres are 7-6-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 5-6-2 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in their previous back-to-back sets is: four points (3), three points (1), two points (5), one point (2) and zero points (2).

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 100 of the team’s 191 goals this season (52.4%).

DAH-LEAN ON ME

  • After last night’s game, Rasmus Dahlin led rookie defensemen and ranked third among all NHL rookies in points (37). His 29 assists ranked second among all rookies.
  • With 37 points (8+29) through 71 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.

JACK ATTACK

  • Jack 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.

SKINNER, SKINNER, CHICKEN DINNER

  • Jeff Skinner has scored 37 goals this season, becoming the fifth player ever to score at least 35 in his first season with the Sabres and tying his previous single-season high set in 2016-17.
  • With his next goal, he will tie Gilbert Perreault (1970-71) and Ray Sheppard (1987-88) for third-most ever scored by a first-year Sabre.
  • Skinner’s 29 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.
  • Skinner is on pace to become the first Sabres player to score at least 40 goals since Thomas Vanek (40) in 2008-09 and would have the highest total since Thomas Vanek scored 43 in 2006-07. He would become just the 11th different player in Sabres history to score at least 40 in a season.

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).

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:

Player/Season GP G A PTS ES G ES A ES P
Eichel Career High (2017-18) 67 25 39 64 22 20 42
Eichel 2018-19 66 25 47 72 17 34 51
Eichel 2018-19 (Pace) 77 29 55 84 20 40 60
               
Reinhart Career High (2017-18) 82 25 25 50 13 16 29
Reinhart 2018-19 71 18 41 59 16 29 45
Reinhart 2018-19 (Pace) 82 21 47 68 18 33 52
               
Skinner Career High (2016-17) 79 37 26 63 30 18 48
Skinner 2018-19 71 37 22 59 29 14 43
Skinner 2018-19 (Pace) 82 42 26 68 33 16 49

SCORING WHEN IT COUNTS

  • Jeff Skinner’s seven game-winning goals tied for fifth-most in the NHL this season after last night’s game. 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 after last night’s game)

  • Buffalo Sabres: 81.2% PK% (10th)
  • Eichel: 265 S (5th)
  • Ristolainen: 24:53 TOI/GP (9th)
  • Skinner: 3 OTG (T-3rd), 29 EVG (5th), 7 GWG (T-5th), 37 G (T-8th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (215), Girgensons (119), McCabe (96)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (115), Bogosian (110), McCabe (95)
Shots: Eichel (265), Skinner (232), Ristolainen (172)

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: 2-8-0 (4), 23/39, 6/27, 18/26
71-80: 0-1-0 (0), 2/4. 0/2, 1/1

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)
Goals
Jason Pominville … 1 goal … 217 goals with Sabres (sole possession, 10th in franchise history)
Jack Eichel … 2 goals … 100 career goals
Jason Pominville … 8 goals … 300 career goals
Assists
Kyle Okposo … 1 assist … 300 career assists
Jeff Skinner … 3 assists … 200 career assists
Matt Hunwick … 6 assists … 100 career assists
Jason Pominville … 8 assists … 310 assists with Sabres (T-7th in franchise history)
Points
Sam Reinhart … 1 point … 200 career points
Rasmus Ristolainen … 10 points … 200 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Tage Thompson … 100th NHL game … March 12 vs. DAL