Sabres Game Preview: 11/3/18 vs. Ottawa

• This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
• Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo 4-2 in Ottawa on Nov. 1
• Next meeting: Tuesday, March 26 in Ottawa
• The Sabres are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 5-4-1 at home
• This is the 139th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 67-51-20 series record.
• The Sabres are 36-23-8 at home against the Senators all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-7-2 all-time on November 3.
• November 3, 1990: Benoit Hogue scores twice and Daren Puppa stops 30 of 31 shots as the Sabres top the Bruins 4-1.
• November 3, 2008: Ryan Miller makes 24 saves to record his second consecutive shutout and the ninth of his career in a 2-0 win at New Jersey.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres are 3-1-1 in their last five home games and are looking to extend their home point streak to three games today.
• The Sabres have gone 8-2-3 in their last 13 games against the Senators and have a 9-4-4 record in their last 17 meetings in Buffalo.
• Jake McCabe has recorded seven points (1+6) in his last seven games.
• Jack Eichel has recorded 13 points (4+9) in 10 career games against the Senators. Eichel enters today’s game with 14 points (4+10) in his last 12 games overall.
• Evan Rodrigues has tallied a point in each of his last two games against Ottawa (1+1).

WHAT’S THE SKINNY?

• Jeff Skinner has 13 points (7+6) in his last nine games and entered play Friday tied for sixth in the league with a plus-10 rating.
• Skinner’s torrid nine-game stretch began on Oct. 13 at Arizona. Entering play Friday, he tied for fifth in the league with seven goals and tied for sixth in the league with 13 points (7+6) during that span.
• All but one of Skinner’s goals have come at even strength this season, and his six even-strength tallies tied him for 10th in the NHL entering play Friday.

WELCOME TO POMINVILLE

• Jason Pominville enters today’s game on a six-game point streak, during which he has totaled 10 points (5+5) and averaged 17:19 of ice time per game. It’s his first six-game point streak since Jan. 19 to 31, 2017 (2+6).
• Entering play Friday, the streak tied as the 10th-longest active point streak in the NHL.
• A point today would give him points in seven straight contests for the first time since March 9 to 20, 2014, when he posted eight points in seven games (4+4).

BACK-TO-BACK
Today’s game opens Buffalo’s second of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which continues tomorrow night at NY Rangers. The Sabres are 1-0-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-0-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in their previous back-to-back sets is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (0), one point (0) and zero points (0).


HOME-AND-HOME

• Tonight’s game is the second in a home-and-home series between the Sabres and Senators that began with a 4-2 Senators win on Thursday in Ottawa.
• The Sabres and Senators have previously played seven home-and-home series, with the Sabres going 5-2-0 in the home games and 2-3-2 (one tie) in the road games. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (1), three points (1), two points (4), one point (1), zero points (0).
• The Sabres have played in 162 previous home-and-home series in franchise history, going 91-48-23 (.633) in the home games and 56-77-29 (.435) in the road games in previous series. The team is 70-63-29 (.522) all-time in the first game of these series and 77-62-23 (.546) in the second. Buffalo’s points breakdown in these previous series is as follows: four points (31), three points (24), two points (66), one point (16), zero points (25).

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 11/2 games)

• Bogosian:2.5 BkS/GP (10th)
• Eichel: 54 S (T-7th)
• Hutton: 292 SV (8th)
• Ristolainen: 25:21 TOI/GP (8th), 37 hits (9th)
• Skinner: plus-10 (T-6th), 6 EVG (T-10th)
• Ullmark: 1 SO (T-3rd), 2.00 GAA (8th)

BUF-OTT CONNECTIONS


Nathan Beaulieu:

• Played with Senators G Mike Condon in Montreal. Senators goaltending coach Pierre Groulx was also on the Canadiens’ coaching staff during Beaulieu’s time with the team.

Patrik Berglund:

• Played with Senators F Magnus Paajarvi in St. Louis. The duo also won a silver medal together while representing Sweden at the 2011 IIHF World Championship.

Jason Botterill:

• Was the assistant general manager in Pittsburgh when Senators G Mike Condon played for the Penguins.

Phil Housley:

• Played with Senators G Craig Anderson in Chicago.

Carter Hutton:

• Played with Senators F Magnus Paajarvi in St. Louis.

Johan Larsson:

• Won a gold medal with Senators F Magnus Paajarvi while representing Sweden at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

Jake McCabe:

• Played for Team USA with Senators G Mike Condon and D Chris Wideman at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.

Kyle Okposo:

• Played for Team USA with Senators F Bobby Ryan at the 2012 IIHF World Championship.

Jason Pominville:

• Represented the United States with Senators G Craig Anderson at the 2008 IIHF World Championship.

Sam Reinhart:

• Won a gold medal while representing Canada with Senators D Cody Ceci, F Matt Duchene and F Mark Stone at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.

Conor Sheary:

• Played with Senators G Mike Condon in Pittsburgh.

Jeff Skinner:

• Played with Senators F Matt Duchene for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2017. They won a silver medal together in 2017.

Steve Smith:

• Was an assistant coach in Edmonton when Senators F Magnus Paajarvi was playing for the Oilers.

Vladimir Sobotka:

• Played with Senators F Magnus Paajarvi in St. Louis.

Tage Thompson:

• Played with Senators F Magnus Paajarvi in St. Louis.
• Won a gold medal for Team USA with Senators F Colin White at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship. The duo also played together the following year at the 2018 IIHF World Championship, winning a bronze medal.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ristolainen (37), Girgensons (19), McCabe (19)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (23), McCabe (22), Bogosian (20)
Shots: Eichel (54), Skinner (40), Pominville (32)


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: 0-1-2 (2), 8/10, 2/11, 11/13


OVERTIME RESULTS (0-2; 113-123 all-time)
Oct. 27 at CBJ: L, 5-4 (GWG-Panarin, 0:31)
Oct. 30 vs. CGY: L, 2-1 (GWG-Gaudreau, 2:40)


SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-0; 70-66 all-time)
N/A


MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played:
Conor Sheary … 3 games … 200 career games played
Remi Elie … 6 games … 100 career games played
Nathan Beaulieu … 8 games … 300 career games played
Jeff Skinner … 8 games … 600 career games played
Evan Rodrigues … 10 games … 100 career games played
Goals:Jason Pominville … 4 goals … 211 goals with Sabres (T-11th in franchise history)
Points:Conor Sheary … 2 points … 100 career points
Jeff Skinner … 8 points … 400 career points
Jack Eichel … 9 points … 200 career points


RECENT MILESTONES
Jason Pominville … 501st point with Sabres (9th in franchise history) … Nov. 1 at OTT
Jason Pominville … 1,000th NHL game … Nov. 1 at OTT

from Sabres Digital Press Box via IFTTT