Sabres Game Preview: 11/10/18 vs. Vancouver

LAST GAMEThursday, November 8
Buffalo 6 at Montreal 5 (OT)
Goals: Sobotka (2), Skinner (2), Sheary, Ristolainen
Goalie: Ullmark (27 saves/32 shots)/Hutton (5 saves/5 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 5/5; Shots: Montreal 37 – Buffalo 31


CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 61)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 16 games
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 16 games


TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/6: Activated F Sean Malone from IR; assigned Malone to Rochester (AHL)


UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Nov. 13: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 16: Buffalo at Winnipeg, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17: Buffalo at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 19: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 21: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.


TODAY’S GAME


LIGHTNING at SABRES

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Vancouver 4-0 in Vancouver on Jan. 25
• Next meeting: Friday, Jan. 18 in Vancouver
• The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Canucks; 6-4-0 at home
• This is the 121st game all-time between Buffalo and Vancouver; Buffalo has a 49-52-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 31-21-8 at home against the Canucks all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 13-4-2 all-time on November 10.
• November 10, 1976: Gerry Desjardins stops 38 shots in a 5-0 win vs. St. Louis, setting a then-franchise record for most saves in a shutout. The record would not be matched for more than 21 years, until Dominik Hasek tied it on Dec. 5, 1997 vs. Tampa Bay and then topped it with 42 saves two weeks later vs. Montreal on Dec. 19, 1997. Chad Johnson currently holds the record, with 44 on Dec. 17, 2015 vs. Anaheim.
• November 10, 1997: Jason Dawe records a natural hat trick in a 4-4 tie vs. Edmonton.
• November 10, 2010: Lindy Ruff coaches his 1,000th NHL game, a 5-4 shootout win at New Jersey, becoming the 18th NHL head coach to reach that milestone.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres are 4-2-1 against the Pacific Division so far in 2018-19.
• Buffalo has won each of the team’s first three afternoon games this season.
• Jack Eichel entered play Friday tied for the league lead with seven multi-point games this season, 11 shy of his career-high 18 in a season. Jeff Skinner tied for eighth with six, 10 shy of his career-high 16.
• Kyle Okposo has totaled 11 points (2+9) in 11 career games against Vancouver, including at least a point in each of the last three.
• Patrik Berglund has four points (3+1) in his last three games against the Canucks.
• Rasmus Ristolainen enters today’s game with an assist in each of his last three meetings with the Canucks. Marco Scandella has an assist in each of the last two matchups and Evan Rodrigues has tallied an assist in both of his career games against Vancouver.

WHAT’S THE SKINNY?After scoring his 10th and 11th goals of the season on Thursday at Montreal, Jeff Skinner moved into the top five in the NHL in goals this season. With his 10th goal in the team’s 16th game of the season, he reached the 10-goal mark quicker than any Sabres player since Thomas Vanek (10 games) in 2012-13. Only five players in franchise history have scored more goals through 16 games than Skinner’s current total: Rick Martin (2x), Gilbert Perreault (2x), Thomas Vanek (2x), Dave Andreychuk, Danny Gare.


SHEARY ON TOP
Conor Sheary, who appeared in his 200th NHL game on Thursday at Montreal, has scored a goal in each of the Sabres’ last three games, marking the longest goal streak of his career. With a point today, Sheary would match his longest career point streak (most recent: Jan. 16 to 22, 2017).


WINNING WAYS
Sam Reinhart has recorded four assists in his last three games, including two in Buffalo’s 6-5 win at Montreal on Thursday. The Sabres are now 7-0-0 this season when Reinhart records at least one point and 23-2-3 (.875) in his career when he records at least two.


THREE’S COMPANY
Entering play Friday, Buffalo’s top line of Jeff Skinner, Jason Pominville and Jack Eichel each ranked in the top three in the NHL in points since the trio began playing together as a line on Oct. 20 at Los Angeles. In those nine games, Skinner has recorded 15 points (10+5) and Pominville (7+7) and Eichel (1+13) have totaled 14 points each.
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 11/9 games)

• Eichel: 15 A (4th), 15 EVP (T-5th), 61 S (7th), 19 PTS (T-9th)
• Pominville: 7 EVG (T-9th)
• Ristolainen: 1 OTG (T-4th), 25:15 TOI/GP (8th), 46 hits (9th), 2 GWG (T-9th)
• Skinner: plus-11 (T-3rd), 9 EVG (4th), 11 G (T-5th)
• Ullmark: 1 SO (T-5th)

BUF-TBL CONNECTIONSFormer Sabres:

• Canucks General Manager Jim Benning spent 12 seasons (1994-2006) as a member of the Sabres’ front office staff. He spent his first four seasons with the organization as a scout before being promoted to director of amateur scouting. The Sabres drafted F Jason Pominville during Benning’s tenure with the team.
• Canucks F Tim Schaller spent three seasons (2013-2016) with the Sabres organization. He skated in 35 games and recorded five points (2+3).

Sabres with Vancouver connections:

• Sabres F Sam Reinhart is a native of West Vancouver, British Columbia and played minor hockey at the Hollyburn Country Club and for the Vancouver Northwest Giants. His father is former Canuck Paul Reinhart.

Canucks with Western New York Connections:

• Canucks D Christopher Tanev (2009-2010) played one season of college hockey at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He recorded 28 points (10+18) in 41 games and was named Atlantic Hockey Conference’s Rookie of the year and earned All-Rookie Team and Third All-Star Team honors.

Nathan Beaulieu:

• Played with Canucks assistant coach Manny Malhotra in Montreal.

Patrik Berglund:

• Has represented Sweden in international play with Canucks F Loui Eriksson on four separate occasions: at the 2009 IIHF World Championship, at the 2011 IIHF World Championship, at the 2014 Winter Olympics and at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. They’ve medaled three of the four times they’ve played together, winning a bronze medal in 2009 and a silver in 2011 and 2014. Canucks G Jacob Markstrom was also a member of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey team.

Jason Botterill:

• Played for the Sabres when Canucks General Manager Jim Benning was the team’s director of amateur scouting.
• Was a scout for the Stars when Canucks assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner and F Loui Eriksson were playing in Dallas.
• Was the assistant general manager in Pittsburgh when Canucks D Derrick Pouliot played for the Penguins.

Rasmus Dahlin:

• Represented Sweden with Canucks F Elias Pettersson at both the 2017 and 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships, winning a silver medal in 2018.

Jack Eichel:

• Won a bronze medal for Team USA with Canucks G Thatcher Demko and F Tyler Motte at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Remi Elie:

• Played with Canucks F Antoine Roussel in Dallas.

Phil Housley:

• Was an assistant coach in Nashville when Canucks D Michael Del Zotto was playing for the Predators.
• Played with Canucks Head Coach Travis Green in Toronto.
• Played with Canucks assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner in Washington.

Carter Hutton:

• Played with Canucks D Michael Del Zotto in Nashville.

Johan Larsson:

• Represented Sweden with Canucks F Loui Eriksson at the 2012 World Championship.

Jake McCabe:

• Played with Canucks G Thatcher Demko and F Tyler Motte for Team USA at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.

Sam Reinhart:

• Played for Team Canada with Canucks F Bo Horvat at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship.
• Won a gold medal with Canucks D Ben Hutton and D Christopher Tanev while representing Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.

Rasmus Ristolainen:

• Represented Finland with Canucks F Markus Granlund at the 2012 and 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Conor Sheary:

• Played with Canucks D Derrick Pouliot in Pittsburgh.

Jeff Skinner:

• Played with Canucks assistant coach Manny Malhotra in Carolina.

Steve Smith:

• Played for the Blackhawks when Canucks assistant coach Newell Brown was on the coaching staff in Chicago.
• Was an assistant coach in Edmonton when Canucks G Richard Bachman was playing for the Oilers.

Vladimir Sobotka:

• Played in Boston when Canucks General Manager Jim Benning and assistant general manager John Weisbrod were a part of the Bruins front office staff.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS


Hits: Ristolainen (46), Girgensons (24), McCabe (22)
Blocked Shots: Ristolainen (28), McCabe (27), Bogosian (24)
Shots: Eichel (61), Skinner (53), Pominville (43)


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: 2-2-2 (6), 24/20, 3/21, 18/20


OVERTIME RESULTS (1-2; 114-123 all-time)
Oct. 27 at CBJ: L, 5-4 (GWG-Panarin, 0:31)
Oct. 30 vs. CGY: L, 2-1 (GWG-Gaudreau, 2:40)
Nov. 8 at MTL: W, 6-5 (GWG-Ristolainen, 1:38)


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


MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)


Games Played
Jeff Skinner … 5 games … 600 career games played
Remi Elie … 6 games … 100 career games played
Nathan Beaulieu … 7 games … 300 career games played
Evan Rodrigues … 7 games … 100 career games played


GoalsJason Pominville … 2 goals … 211 goals with Sabres (T-11th in franchise history)


PointsJeff Skinner … 3 points … 400 career points
Jack Eichel … 4 points … 200 career points


RECENT MILESTONES
Conor Sheary … 200th NHL game … Nov. 8 at MTL

from Sabres Digital Press Box via IFTTT