Tag Archives: Vancouver Canucks

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, October 16
Arizona 1 at Buffalo 2 (OT)
Goals: Eakin, Ruotsalainen (GDG)
Goalie: Tokarski (20 saves/21 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 2/2; Shots: Buffalo 33 – Arizona 21

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 6)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Mattias Samuelsson (Lower body, Oct. 14; injured reserve) – 2 games
Jack Eichel (Upper body, Oct. 14; injured reserve) – 2 games
Casey Mittelstadt (Upper body Oct. 16) – 1 game
Henri Jokiharju (Lower body Oct. 16; injured reserve) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS

10/16: Claimed D Christian Wolanin off of waivers from Los Angeles; Placed D Henri Jokiharju on IR.

UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, Oct. 22: Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 23: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 25: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 28: Buffalo at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 31: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CANUCKS at SABRES

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
• Last meeting: Vancouver defeated Buffalo 6-3 in Buffalo on Jan. 11, 2020
• Next meeting: Sunday, March 20 in Vancouver
• The Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games against the Canucks; 6-4-0 at home.
• This is the 125th game all-time between Buffalo and Vancouver; Buffalo has a 50-54-20 series record.
• The Sabres are 32-22-8 at home against the Canucks all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 6-8-3 all-time on October 19.
• October 19, 1978: Don Edwards stops all 19 shots and Craig Ramsay scores the game’s lone goal as the Sabres shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 in Buffalo.
• October 19, 1984: Mike Foligno completes his third career hat trick with the game-winning goal at 12:33 of the third period to dispatch the Quebec Nordiques 5-4 at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Buffalo enters tonight’s game looking for a win to go 3-0-0 to start a season for the fifth time in franchise history.
  • The last Sabres team to win at least its first three games of the season was the 2008-09 club that won its first four contests.
• If the Sabres earn at least a point tonight, they will have opened the season by earning at least a point in their first three games for the ninth time in team history.
• Rasmus Dahlin is expected to play in his 200th career NHL game tonight. Among Sabres defensemen with at least 199 career games played for the team, Dahlin ranks 10th in goals per game (.09), fourth in assists per game (.45) and fourth in points per game (.54)
  • Entering Monday’s games, Dahlin’s .45 assists per game ranked 10th among active NHL defensemen (min. 199 GP).
• Kyle Okposo’s next goal will be the 200th of his NHL career. Entering Monday’s games, there were 55 U.S.-born players who have reached the 200-goal mark and 60 active NHL players who had scored 200 or more career goals.
• Buffalo has held its opponents to one goal in each of its first two games this season. The last time the team held its opponents to three or fewer goals in the first three games of the season was 2009-10, when the Sabres allowed three goals through their first three contests.
  • The Sabres have held each of their first three opponents to one goal or fewer just once in franchise history: 2008-09, when the team allowed one goal in each of its first three contests.
• The Sabres have successfully killed all six of their penalties to begin the season. The last time the Sabres were perfect on the penalty kill in the first three games of the season was 2017-18 (11-for-11).
• Colin Miller notched two assists vs. MTL (10/14) and now has five assists in his last six games played dating back to last season.

HOT AGAINST THE CANUCKS

• Kyle Okposo has totaled 15 points (4+11) in his last 13 games against Vancouver, including a point in each of the last seven meetings (4+3). His career point-per-game output through 15 games against the Canucks ties his mark against the San Jose Sharks (5+11 in 16 GP) as his best against any NHL team.
• Vinnie Hinostroza has 10 points (1+9) in 10 career games against Vancouver, including seven assists in his last five. His total points (10) and points per game (1.00) against the Canucks both tie for his best output against any NHL team
• Rasmus Dahlin has four assists in three career games against the Canucks.
• Jeff Skinner has recorded six points (3+3) in his last six contests against the Canucks.
• Zemgus Girgensons has a point in each of his last three games against Vancouver (2+1).
• Victor Olofsson scored a goal and added an assist in his only career meeting with the Canucks.

WELCOME TO BUFFALO
The Sabres have seven new players on their roster this season:

2021-22 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:

• Eight were drafted by the Sabres — five were first-round selections (Pysyk, 2010; Girgensons, 2012; Mittelstadt, 2017; Dahlin, 2018; Cozens, 2019), one was a second-round pick (Asplund, 2016), one was a fourth-round pick (Bryson, 2017) and one was a seventh-round pick (Olofsson, 2014).
  • Mark Pysyk was drafted by the Sabres in 2010 and returned as an unrestricted free agent in 2021.
• Seven were acquired in trades: Bjork, Butcher, Hagg, Jokiharju, Miller, Skinner, Thompson
• Seven were signed as free agents: Anderson, Eakin, Hayden, Hinostroza, Okposo, Ruotsalainen, Tokarski
• Drake Caggiula was claimed off of waivers.
• Seventeen played in Buffalo at some point last season: Asplund, Bjork, Bryson, Caggiula, Cozens, Dahlin, Eakin, Girgensons, Jokiharju, Miller, Mittelstadt, Okposo, Olofsson, Ruotsalainen, Skinner, Thompson, Tokarski
• One played for Buffalo previously: Pysyk
• Five are new to the Sabres this season: Anderson, Butcher, Hagg, Hayden, Hinostroza

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 10/18 games)

• Buffalo Sabres: 4 PTS (T-2nd), 2 W (T-1st), 1.00 GA/GP (T-1st), 50.0% PP% (T-2nd), 100.0% PK% (T-1st), 54.5 % FO% (5th), 26.0 SA/GP (3rd)
• Bryson: 2 PPP (T-8th)
• Eakin: 1 PPG (T-5th)
• Girgensons: 1 GWG (T-1st)
• Hagg: 8 BkS (T-2nd)
• Okposo: 1 PPG (T-5th)
• Olofsson: 1 PPG (T-5th), 2 PPP (T-8th)
• Skinner: 2 PPP (T-8th)
• Thompson: 1 PPG (T-5th) 

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Caggiula (4), Dahlin/Hagg/Miller/Pysyk (3)
Blocked Shots: Hagg (8), Pysyk (4), Dahlin/Eakin/Miller (3)
Shots: Olofsson (8), Skinner (7), Miller/Okposo/Thompson (6)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 2-0-0 (4), 7/2, 4/8, 6/6

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 126-138 all-time)
N/A

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 82-74 all-time)
Oct. 16 vs. ARI: W, 2-1 (GDG-Ruotsalainen)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Rasmus Dahlin … 1 game played … 200 career games played
Zemgus Girgensons … 9 games played … 500 career games played

Goals
Kyle Okposo … 1 goal … 200 career goals

Assists
Colin Miller … 3 assists … 100 career assists
Will Butcher … 8 assists … 100 career assists
Rasmus Dahlin … 10 assists … 100 career assists

Points
Mark Pysyk … 8 points … 100 career points

Wins
Craig Anderson … 8 wins … 300 career wins

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Thursday, January 9
Buffalo 1 at St. Louis 5
Goals: Eichel
Goalie: Ullmark (26 saves/30 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 0/1; PK: 0/1; Shots: St. Louis 31 – Buffalo 19

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 202)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 44 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 28 games
Tage Thompson (upper body, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 24 games
Jeff Skinner (upper body, Dec. 29; injured reserve) – 5 games
Victor Olofsson (lower body, Jan. 4; injured reserve) – 2 games
Jake McCabe (upper body, Jan. 9) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
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
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.
Tuesday, Jan. 28: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TODAY’S GAME
CANUCKS at SABRES

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
• Last meeting: Vancouver defeated Buffalo 6-5 (OT) in Vancouver on Dec. 7, 2019
• The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canucks; 6-4-0 at home.
• This is the 124th game all-time between Buffalo and Vancouver; Buffalo has a 50-53-20 series record.
• The Sabres are 32-21-8 at home against the Canucks all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-7-4 all-time on January 11.
• January 11, 1976: Gerry Desjardins earns his second shutout of the season with 28 saves in a 6-0 win over Pittsburgh.
• January 11, 1994: Randy Wood scores his first career penalty-shot goal in a 5-2 win at Chicago.
• January 11, 2019: Jason Pominville scores his 211th goal as a member of the Sabres, tying Alexander Mogilny for 11th-most in franchise history. Pominville would finish the season with 217 goals as a Sabre, ranking him 10th all-time.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Conor Sheary is expected to appear in his 300th NHL game today.
• Kyle Okposo has totaled 14 points (4+10) in his last 12 games against Vancouver, including a point in each of the last six meetings (4+2). His career point-per-game output through 14 games against the Canucks ties his mark against the San Jose Sharks (5+11 in 16 GP) and the Vegas Golden Knights (0+3 in 3 GP) as his best against any NHL team.
• Rasmus Ristolainen enters today’s game with 10 points in his last nine games against the Canucks (2+8), including at least a point in each of his last six (0+8).
• Sam Reinhart has scored in each of his last four games against Vancouver, totaling six points (4+2) in those matchups.
• Marcus Johansson (3+1) and Johan Larsson (1+3) have each recorded four points in their last four games against the Canucks.

WHO’S HOT?

• Jack Eichel has recorded points in each of Buffalo’s last five games (3+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.
• Marcus Johansson has totaled six points (1+5) in his last five games.
• Sam Reinhart has totaled five points (2+3) in the Sabres’ last five contests.
• Conor Sheary has recorded four points (2+2) in Buffalo’s last four games.
• Rasmus Dahlin enters today’s game with points in two straight games. His .64 points per game so far this season represent the best scoring rate by a Sabres defenseman since Brian Campbell (.68) in 2007-08.

HOME COOKING

• The Sabres are 13-5-3 through their first 21 home games of the season. The team’s .690 points percentage at home ranked ninth in the NHL before Friday’s games. If they finished the season at this pace, it would rank as the Sabres’ 12th-best home record in franchise history.
• With 34 points (19+15) in 21 home games this season, Jack Eichel’s 1.62 points per game at ranked fourth in the league entering play Friday. His plus-19 rating at home led the league.
• Sam Reinhart (9+11) is also producing near a point-per-game rate through 21 home games this season. Reinhart has totaled nine points (3+6) in his last seven games at KeyBank Center.
• Marcus Johansson enters today’s game with at least a point in each of his last three home games, totaling five points (1+4) in those contests.
• Jimmy Vesey has recorded eight points (4+4) and a plus-7 rating in his last 10 home games.
• Conor Sheary has posted six points (4+2) and a plus-4 rating in his last five home games.
• Linus Ullmark has won seven of his last nine games at KeyBank Center, posting a .918 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average in those games.

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

WELCOME TO BUFFALO

• Michael Frolik is expected to make his home debut for the Sabres today. He logged two shots in 16:44 of ice time his first game with the Sabres on Thursday at St. Louis.
• 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.

JACK ATTACK

• Entering play Friday, Jack Eichel’s 27 goals this season ranked third among all NHL players and his 56 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 27 games played since then, he has totaled 39 points (20+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 27 goals in 43 games so far this season, Jack Eichel is one goal from tying his previous best total set in the 2018-19 season.
• Eichel’s output through 44 team games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 51 goals and 105 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 44 games put him on pace for a career-high goal total (26).

POINTS IN BUNCHES

• Jack Eichel has recorded 15 multi-point games this season, ranking as the 11th-most in the NHL before Friday’s games.
• Entering play Friday, his six multi-goal games tied for second-most in the league and his eight multi-assist games tied for eighth-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 Friday.
• 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 1/10 games)

• Eichel: 20 EVG (2nd), 27 G (3rd), 39 EVP (T-5th), 5 GWG (T-6th), 56 PTS (T-8th)
• Hutton: 2 SO (T-5th)
• Olofsson: 9 PPG (T-3rd)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (133), Girgensons (69), McCabe (60)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (61), Ristolainen (51), Jokiharju (37)
Shots: Eichel (150), 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: 2-2-0 (4), 11/15, 1/10, 7/10

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 … 1 game … 300 career games played
Linus Ullmark … 9 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

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Thursday, December 5
Buffalo 3 at Calgary 4
Goals: Reinhart, McCabe, Eichel
Goalie: Ullmark (25 saves/29 shots)
PP: 1/8; PK: 1/2; Shots: Calgary 29 – Buffalo 29

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 139)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 3; injured reserve) – 29 games
Vladimir Sobotka (knee, Nov. 9; injured reserve) – 13 games
Kyle Okposo (concussion, Nov. 17; injured reserve) – 10 games
Tage Thompson (upper body, Nov. 19; injured reserve) – 9 games
Rasmus Dahlin (concussion, Nov. 27; injured reserve) – 5 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/3: Assigned F Curtis Lazar to Rochester (AHL)
12/4: Assigned F Jean-Sebastien Dea to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Dec. 8: Buffalo at Edmonton, 8 p.m.
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.

TODAY’S GAME
SABRES at CANUCKS

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
• Last meeting: Vancouver defeated Buffalo 4-3 in Vancouver on Jan. 18
• Next meeting: Saturday, Jan. 11 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Canucks; 2-8-0 on the road.
• This is the 123rd game all-time between Buffalo and Vancouver; Buffalo has a 50-53-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 18-32-11 on the road against the Canucks all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 5-12-4 all-time on December 7.
• December 7, 1980: Eleven different Sabres record multi-point games, led by Rick Dudley’s second career hat trick, as the Sabres defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 10-1 at home.
• December 7, 2002: The Sabres record the 1,200th win in franchise history on a game-winning goal from Adam Mair, topping the Washington Capitals 4-3 at home.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Today’s game is the second in a three-game road trip through Western Canada for the Sabres. Buffalo is 13-7-3 against the Pacific Division since the beginning of last season, including a 3-2-2 record in 2019-20.
• Victor Olofsson has recorded 14 points (5+9) in his last 14 games, including two-point outings in the team’s last two contests.
• All 11 of Jeff Skinner’s goals this season have come during 5-on-5 play. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, he entered play Friday tied for fifth-most in the league.

HOT AGAINST VANCOUVER

• Rasmus Ristolainen enters today’s game with eight points in his last eight games against the Canucks (2+6), including at least a point in each of his last five (0+6).
• Jeff Skinner has recorded five points (3+2) in his last five games against Vancouver.
• Sam Reinhart has scored in each of his last three games against the Canucks, totaling four points (3+1) in those matchups.
• Marcus Johansson has totaled six points (4+2) in six career visits to Vancouver.
• Evan Rodrigues has recorded a point in three of his four career games against the Canucks (1+2), including both of his road games (1+1).
• Carter Hutton is 2-1-0 in four career appearances against the Canucks with a .943 save percentage and a 1.80 goals-against average.

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

GOING STREAKING

• Jack Eichel enters today’s game on an 11-game point streak that began on Nov. 16, tying as the longest streak of his career. Entering play Friday, his 10 goals and 20 points during the league’s longest active streak led the NHL during that timeframe.
• With a point today, Eichel would have his first career 12-game point streak. It would be the longest point streak recorded by a Sabre since Tim Connolly tallied points in 16 straight from Dec. 23, 2009 to Jan. 25, 2010.
• Rasmus Ristolainen (1+3) and Brandon Montour (0+4) each enter the game with points in four straight contests. Montour has already tied his longest career point streak, set from Nov. 18 to 25, 2018 (1+5). With a point today, Ristolainen would have his first five-game streak since Jan. 18 to 25, 2018 (1+5) and would be one game shy of his career-best six straight games with a point.

EVEN-STRENGTH IMPROVEMENT
The Sabres have seen positive trends at even strength in the team’s 12 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.

During the 12-game stretch that began on Nov. 14 vs. Carolina, the team has tied or led its opponent at 5-on-5 in…

• goals: nine times
• shots: eight times
• shot attempts: seven times
• scoring chances: seven times

SETTING THE PACE

• With 18 goals in 29 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 29 games currently has him on pace to finish the season with 51 goals and 110 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 76 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 (31) since Ray Sheppard’s 38 in 1987-88 and the most points by a Sabres rookie (68) 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 10 goals in 29 games put him on pace for a career-high goal total (28).

POINTS IN BUNCHES

• Jack Eichel has recorded 10 multi-point games this season, tying for 10th-most in the NHL before Friday’s games.
• Entering play Friday, his four multi-goal games tied for fourth-most (one shy of the league lead) and his seven multi-assist games tied for third-most (also one behind the league leaders).
• 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 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 (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 12/6 games)

• Eichel: 18 G (T-4th), 13 EVG (T-4th), 27 EVP (T-6th), 39 PTS (7th), 109 S (T-7th), 21 A (T-8th)
• Hutton: 2 SO (T-2nd)
• Olofsson: 6 PPG (T-7th)
• Ristolainen: 91 hits (10th)
• Skinner: 109 S (T-7th), 11 EVG (T-10th)
• Ullmark: 1 SO (T-10th)

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (91), McCabe (46), Girgensons (40)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (48), Ristolainen (38), Jokiharju (27)
Shots: Eichel (109), Skinner (109), Olofsson (70)

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: 3-4-2 (8), 29/28, 3/29, 22/30

OVERTIME RESULTS (2-4; 122-132 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)

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)
Goals
Sam Reinhart … 3 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Marco Scandella … 10 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Jack Eichel … 2 points … 300 career points
Jimmy Vesey … 3 points … 100 career points
Zach Bogosian … 9 points … 200 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Rasmus Asplund … 1st NHL goal … Dec. 2 vs. NJD