Game Preview: 10/20/18 at Los Angeles

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 32)Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missedMatt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 7 games
Sean Malone (knee, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 7 games
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 7 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS10/16: Activated D Zach Bogosian from IR; Assigned D Matt Tennyson to Rochester (AHL)
10/17: Signed F Matej Pekar to a three-year, entry-level contract

UPCOMING GAMESSunday, Oct. 21: Buffalo at Anaheim, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 25: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 27: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 30: Calgary at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 1: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

TODAY’S GAMESABRES at KINGS

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Kings this season.
• Last meeting: Los Angeles defeated Buffalo 4-2 in Buffalo on Feb. 17
• Next meeting: Tuesday, Dec. 11 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Kings; 2-7-1 on the road
• This is the 124th game all-time between Buffalo and Los Angeles; Buffalo has a 59-45-19 series record.
• The Sabres are 24-28-10 on the road against the Kings all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 11-8-2 all-time on October 20.
• October 20, 2011: Thomas Vanek scores twice, Jason Pominville records a goal and two assists, and Ryan Miller stops 22 shots as the Sabres blank the Florida Panthers 3-0 in Sunrise.
• October 20, 2017: Kyle Okposo appears in his 600th NHL game, a 4-2 loss vs. Vancouver.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Today’s game is the fourth game of a five-game Pacific Division road trip that concludes tomorrow at Anaheim.
• Buffalo is visiting Los Angeles before traveling to Anaheim for the second half of a back-to-back set for the third consecutive season. The Sabres lost the Kings game and won the Ducks game in each of the last two seasons.
• The Sabres are seeking their first road win against the Kings since their 4-2 victory on Oct. 8, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. All five of the team’s trips to Los Angeles since that win have been two-goal losses.

HOT AGAINST LOS ANGELES

• Jack Eichel has five points (3+2) in five career games against Los Angeles.
• Patrik Berglund has recorded a point in each of his last three games against the Kings (1+2).
• Kyle Okposo has totaled five assists in his last four games against Los Angeles.
• Jason Pominville has recorded six points (1+5) in his last five games against the Kings.
• Linus Ullmark stopped 20 of 21 shots (.952) in his only previous meeting with Los Angeles on Dec. 12, 2015 in Buffalo to earn the fifth win of his NHL career.

HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE

• With the exception of the 2011 NHL Premiere* meeting between these teams, the home team has won 15 of the last 16 games between the Sabres and the Kings. During this span, the lone loss by a team in their home arena came in the last matchup between the teams, a 4-2 Kings win at KeyBank Center.
• The last time the Sabres won in the Kings’ arena was a 5-1 victory on Oct. 23, 2003, when Buffalo snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) in road games against the Kings that had dated back to March 13, 1996 (6-2 Sabres win).

*The Sabres topped the Kings 4-2 in a road game on Oct. 8, 2011, but the game was held in Berlin, Germany as part of the 2011 NHL Premiere series.
BACK-TO-BACKToday’s game opens up Buffalo’s first of 16 sets of back-to-back games this season, which continues tomorrow night at Anaheim. The Sabres finished last season 5-11-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 5-9-2 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in last season’s back-to-back sets was: four points (1), three points (0), two points (8), one point (2) and zero points (5).
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).

CAPTAIN JACK

• After being named captain on Oct. 3, Jack Eichel became the 19th full-season captain in franchise history and the 28th player to wear the captain’s “C” for at least a one-month period for the Sabres.
• At 21 years of age, Eichel is the youngest captain in Sabres history, passing Jim Schoenfeld, who served as the team’s captain as a 23-year-old in the 1975-76 season.

SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 10/19 games)

• Eichel: 28 S (T-10th)
• Hutton: 183 SV (5th)
• Ristolainen: 25:22 TOI/GP (8th), 22 hits (T-8th)
• Sheary: 3 PPG (T-4th)
• Ullmark: 1.000 SV% (T-1st), 0.00 GAA (T-1st), 1 SO (T-2nd)

BUF-LAK CONNECTIONSFormer Kings:

• Sabres assistant coach Davis Panye was on the coaching staff in Los Angeles from 2012 to 2017. He won Stanley Cups with the club in 2012 and 2014.

Local Players:

• Kings F Alex Iafallo is a native of Eden, New York. He grew up a fan of the Buffalo Sabres and played youth hockey for the Buffalo Regals. His sister, Julianna, is a forward for the Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL.

Nathan Beaulieu:

• Played with Kings G Peter Budaj for the Montreal Canadiens.

Zach Bogosian:

• Played with Kings F Ilya Kovalchuk for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Jason Botterill:

• Played with Kings assistant coach Dave Lowry for the Calgary Flames.

Phil Housley:

• Played with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford for the Washington Capitals.

Kyle Okposo:

• Played for the New York Islanders with Kings F Nate Thompson.

Davis Payne:

• Played with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford for the Boston Bruins.

Steve Smith:

• Played with Kings assistant coach Dave Lowry for the Calgary Flames.
• Played with Kings goaltending coach Bill Ranford for the Edmonton Oilers.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERSHits: Ristolainen (22), Girgensons (15), Berglund/McCabe (13)
Blocked Shots: Bogosian/McCabe (12), Berglund/Ristolainen (10), Reinhart (9)
Shots: Eichel (28), Skinner (17), Okposo (17)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]1-10: 3-4-0 (6), 13/22, 4/29, 16/23
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 113-121 all-time)N/A
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-0; 70-66 all-time)N/A
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)Games PlayedJason Pominville … 6 games … 1,000 career games played
Remi Elie … 7 games … 100 career games played
GoalsJason Pominville … 9 goals … 211 goals with Sabres (T-11th in franchise history)
PointsJason Pominville … 3 points … 700 career points
Conor Sheary … 3 points … 100 career points
Jason Pominville … 6 points … 497 points with Sabres (T-10th in franchise history)
RECENT MILESTONESPatrik Berglund … 700th NHL game … Oct. 16 at VGK

from Sabres Digital Press Box via IFTTT