Sabres Game Preview: 10/30/18 vs. Calgary

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 46)Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missedMatt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 11 games
Sean Malone (knee, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 11 games
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 11 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYSN/A


UPCOMING GAMESThursday, Nov. 1: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 3: Ottawa at Buffalo, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 4: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 8: Buffalo at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 10: Vancouver at Buffalo, 1 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAMEFLAMES at SABRES

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Flames this season.
• Last meeting: Calgary defeated Buffalo 5-1 in Buffalo on March 7
• Next meeting: Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019 in Calgary
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Flames; 8-1-1 at home.
• This is the 108th game all-time between Buffalo and Calgary/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 52-37-18 series record.
• The Sabres are 33-14-6 at home against the Flames all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 10-8-5 all-time on October 30.
• October 30, 1971: Rookie forward Rick Martin picks up his first career hat trick, including two goals in a span of 1:23, as the Canucks and Sabres play to a 4-4 tie in Vancouver.
• October 30, 1977: Ric Seiling scores his first Sabres goal in a 4-0 win at Montreal.
• October 30, 2015: Linus Ullmark earns his first NHL win against the Philadelphia Flyers, becoming the youngest goalie (22 years, 92 days) to earn a win for the Sabres since Mika Noronen (21 years, 111 days) did so on Oct. 5, 2000 vs. Chicago.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres have scored at least four goals in each of their last four games. If they score four tonight, it would be the first time the team has done so in five straight games in the same season since Feb. 20 to March 2, 2007.
• With a 3-0-1 record in their last four games, the Sabres are seeking their first five-game point streak since they had points in nine straight (7-0-2) from March 10 to 27, 2012.
• The Flames are seeking consecutive wins in Buffalo for the first time since Jan. 27 and Dec. 8, 1991. Since those games, the Sabres are 13-2-2 at home against the Flames. The home team has won 18 of the last 22 games between these teams dating back to the 1999-00 season.
• A point tonight would give the Sabres their best points percentage in a month with at least five games since March 2016. With a win, it would be the team’s best such month since April 2013.
• Rasmus Ristolainen has totaled seven points (4+3) in six games against Calgary since the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
• Kyle Okposo has recorded eight points (2+6) in his last eight games against the Flames.
• Jack Eichel has scored in each of his last two meetings with the Flames.

WHAT’S THE SKINNY?

• Jeff Skinner has 12 points (6+6) in his last seven games and is currently on a five-game point streak. The streak ranks as his longest since his career-best seven-game streak from March 16 to 27, 2017.
  • Skinner entered play Monday tied for third in the league with 10 points (5+5) in the 12 days since the beginning of his current streak.
• All of Skinner’s goals have come at even strength this season, and his six even-strength tallies tied him for sixth in the NHL entering play Monday.
• In 12 career games against the Flames, Skinner has recorded 11 points (4+7), including nine points (3+6) in his last seven.

WHO’S HOT?

• Kyle Okposo has points in each of his last three games (3+1) and is seeking his first four-game point streak since Nov. 10 to 17, 2017. He also enters the game on his first three-game goal streak since January 2014 and is looking to extend it to four games for the first time since his career-best five-game streak from March 24 to 31, 2012.
• Jason Pominville enters tonight’s game on a four-game point streak, during which he has totaled eight points (4+4) and averaged 17:17 of ice time per game. A point tonight would give him points in five straight contests for the first time since Feb. 4 to 12, 2017.
• Jake McCabe has recorded seven points (1+6) in his last six games.
• Jack Eichel has recorded 11 points (3+8) in his last 10 games.

A FRESH FACE

• On Oct. 4 vs. Boston, Rasmus Dahlin (18 years, 175 days) became the second-youngest player ever to appear in a game with the Sabres, behind only fellow No. 1 pick Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 41 days on Oct. 8, 1987 vs. Minnesota).
• Dahlin skated 22:37 in his debut, marking the highest ice time recorded by a Sabres player making his NHL debut and the 21st-highest ice time by any NHL player in his first game since the league began tracking ice time in the 1997-98 season.
• With his assist on Oct. 11 vs. Colorado, Dahlin became the second-youngest player (18 years, 175 days) in franchise history to record a point, behind only Turgeon (18 years, 44 days on Oct. 11, 1987 vs. Washington).
• Dahlin scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 13 at Arizona, becoming the second-youngest player (18 years, 183 days) in franchise history to score, behind only Turgeon (Oct. 21, 1987 vs. Hartford).
  • He was the youngest defenseman in 23 years to score an NHL goal. His goal came exactly 34 years after Doug Bodger (18 years, 117 days) became the youngest defenseman in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to score his first NHL goal (Oct. 13, 1984).
  • With the goal, he also became the third-youngest defenseman in NHL history to record a game-winner, trailing only Craig Wolanin of the New Jersey Devils (12/9/85 at Minnesota) and Red Garrett of the New York Rangers (12/25/42 at Detroit).

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 10/29 games)

• Bogosian: 2.8 BkS/GP (6th)
• Eichel: 45 S (T-8th)
• Hutton: 228 SV (T-10th)
• Ristolainen: 25:13 TOI/GP (9th)
• Sheary: 3 PPG (T-7th)
• Skinner: plus-9 (T-6th), 6 EVG (T-8th)
• Ullmark: 1 SO (T-3rd), 2.00 GAA (9th)

BUF-CGY CONNECTIONSFormer Flames:

• Sabres General Manager Jason Botterill played for the Flames for parts of two seasons (1999-00, 2001-02), appearing in six games and scoring one goal.
• Sabres Head Coach Phil Housley spent five seasons with the Flames (1994-96, 1998-01), playing in 328 games and scoring 238 points (50+188). Housley served as an alternate captain for the Flames during the 1995-96 season and represented the team at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game. Housley played with Flames assistant general manager Craig Conroy while in Calgary.
• Sabres assistant coach Steve Smith spent one season (1997-98) as an assistant coach for the Flames before joining their roster for the next three seasons (1998-2001), serving as the team’s captain during the 1999-00 season. In 102 games, Smith scored one goal and added 20 assists. Flames assistant general manager Craig Conroy played for the Flames when Smith was coaching/playing for the team.

Zach Bogosian:

• Played with Flames F Michael Frolik and F Anthony Peluso in Winnipeg.

Jason Botterill:

• Was a scout for the Stars when Flames G Mike Smith was playing in Dallas.
• Was the assistant general manager in Pittsburgh when Flames F James Neal was playing for the Penguins.

Jack Eichel:

• Played for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with Flames F Johnny Gaudreau.
• Won a bronze medal while representing the United States with Flames D Noah Hanifin at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Phil Housley:

• Played with Flames assistant coach Martin Gelinas in Edmonton.
• Was an assistant coach in Nashville when Flames F James Neal was playing for the Predators.

Carter Hutton:

• Played with Flames F James Neal in Nashville.

Jake McCabe:

• Won a gold medal for Team USA with Flames F Johnny Gaudreau at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship. Both McCabe and Gaudreau were named to the tournament’s All-Star team. The duo played together again at the 2014 IIHF World Championship.
• Played for Team USA with Flames D Noah Hanifin at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.

Kyle Okposo:

• Played for the Islanders with Flames D Travis Hamonic.

Jeff Skinner

• Played with Flames D Noah Hanifin, F Elias Lindholm and F Derek Ryan in Carolina.
• Played in Carolina when Flames Head Coach Bill Peters held the same position for the Hurricanes.
• Played for Team Canada with Flames F James Neal at the 2011 IIHF World Championship.
• Represented Canada at the 2013 IIHF World Championship with Flames D TJ Brodie and G Mike Smith.

Steve Smith:

• Was an assistant coach for the Hurricanes when Flames Head Coach Bill Peters held the same role in Carolina. Flames D Noah Hanifin, F Elias Lindholm and F Derek Ryan were all on the ‘Canes roster during Smith’s tenure with the team.

Vladimir Sobotka:

• Played in Boston when Flames associate coach Geoff Ward was an assistant coach for the Bruins.
• Has played with Flames F Michael Frolik for the Czech Republic National Team on three separate occasions: the 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship, the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Tage Thompson:

• Won a bronze medal for Team USA with Flames F Johnny Gaudreau at the 2018 IIHF World Championship.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERSHits: Ristolainen (31), McCabe (18), Girgensons (17)
Blocked Shots: McCabe (18), Bogosian (17), Ristolainen (17)
Shots: Eichel (45), Skinner (31), Okposo (27)

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: 0-0-1 (1), 4/5, 1/5, 3/3


OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 113-122 all-time)Oct. 27 at CBJ: L, 5-4 (GWG-Panarin, 0:31)

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

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)Games PlayedJason Pominville … 2 games … 1,000 career games played
Conor Sheary … 5 games … 200 career games played
Remi Elie … 7 games … 100 career games played
Nathan Beaulieu … 9 games … 300 career games played
Evan Rodrigues … 10 games … 100 career games played
Jeff Skinner … 10 games … 600 career games played
GoalsJason Pominville … 5 goals … 211 goals with Sabres (T-11th in franchise history)
PointsJason Pominville … 1 point … 500 points with Sabres (T-9th in franchise history)
Conor Sheary … 2 points … 100 career points
Jeff Skinner … 9 points … 400 career points

RECENT MILESTONESJason Pominville … 498th point with Sabres (10th in franchise history) … Oct. 27 at CBJ

from Sabres Digital Press Box via IFTTT