Dreakon13
Registered User
Game Preview: 12/31/18 vs. NY Islanders
LAST GAME
Saturday, December 29
Boston 3 at Buffalo 2 (OT)
Goals: Scandella, Larsson
Goalie: Hutton (39 saves/42 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 3/4; Shots: Boston 42 – Buffalo 28
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 155)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 39 games
Casey Nelson (upper body, Dec. 8; injured reserve) – 10 games
Zemgus Girgensons (upper body, Dec. 29; injured reserve) – 1 game
Linus Ullmark (illness, Dec. 29) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/29: Recalled G Scott Wedgewood from Rochester (AHL); Activated F Jason Pominville from IR; Placed F Zemgus Girgensons on IR
12/30: Assigned G Scott Wedgewood to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Jan. 3: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 5: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 8: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 11: Buffalo at Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 12: Tampa Bay at Buffalo
TONIGHT’S GAME
ISLANDERS at SABRES
- This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Islanders this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New York 4-3 in Buffalo on Feb. 8
- Next meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 12 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Islanders; 5-4-1 at home.
- This is the 149th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has an 81-63-24 series record.
- The Sabres are 45-27-12 at home against the Islanders all-time.
- The Sabres are 13-13-5 all-time on December 31.
- December 31, 1987: The Sabres trade Paul Cyr and a 10th-round draft pick in 1988 (Eric Fenton) to the New York Rangers for Mike Donnelly and a fifth-round pick in 1988 (Alexander Mogilny).
- December 31, 1993: Alexander Mogilny appears in his 300th NHL game and Dominik Hasek stops 39 of 40 shots as the Sabres defeat the Rangers 4-1 at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
- December 31, 1997: Michael Peca scores two shorthanded goals in a 3-0 win over Ottawa. Peca still shares the franchise record for most shorthanded goals scored in one game by a single player with Alexei Zhitnik, Bob Sweeney and Don Luce.
- The Sabres are 12-10-3 all-time in New Year’s Eve home games, including a 1-3-1 record against the Islanders (1982, 1989, 1995, 2002, 2015).
- Ten of Buffalo’s last 12 home games against the Islanders have been decided by a single goal, including five overtime games.
- These teams met three years ago on this date, with the Islanders earning a 2-1 victory in Buffalo. Only seven Sabres who dressed for that game (Bogosian, Eichel, Larsson, McCabe, Reinhart, Ristolainen, Ullmark) are currently on the team’s roster, though Kyle Okposo dressed for New York.
- Buffalo entered play Sunday ranked sixth in the NHL with a penalty kill percentage of 83.5 percent this season and ranked first in the league since the beginning of December with a 91.2 percent success rate.
- Jack Eichel’s 18 multi-point games this season tied him for second-most in the league entering play Sunday and have already matched his single-season high.
- Vladimir Sobotka is expected to appear in his 500th NHL game tonight.