From the Sabres:
Robyn Regehr will miss tonight's game in Couver. He hurt his hip when he was ridden off a puck on the wall, late in period two in San Jose and didnt play at all in period three.
Recently acquired Alex Sulzer will take Regehr's place on the blue line for tonight's game.
Marcus Foligno has been recalled from Rochester.
Ryan Miller will face Roberto Luongo.
Should be a great one!
***
Zack Kassian knows that when the lights go on tonight, the friendships end, until after the game.
He told the Vancouver Province this morning:
“It's going to be a little weird, but it's going to be a lot of fun,” said Kassian. “I got to see a couple of the guys last night, went out for dinner. I built some good friendships out there, but I'm in Vancouver now and I'm excited to get the game going.”
Kassian said he didn't put much stock in any head-to-head matchup between him and Hodgson.
“I played against him in junior hockey a bit,” said Kassian. “He's a great player. He has a high skill level and he's going to be a good player for Buffalo. I'm going to play the same way I have for my whole life and I'm sure he's going to do the same. The main thing is getting the two points.”
Would he have any hesitation in hitting his former teammates?
“It's a game once you get out there and you have to play it the way you can,” he said. “Once it's over you can go back to being friends.”
****
SABRES at CANUCKS
-This is the first and only meeting between the Sabres and Canucks this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Vancouver, 4-3 (OT), in Buffalo on Nov. 15, 2010.
-The Sabres are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canucks; 3-6-1 on the road.
-This is the 110th game all-time between BUF and VAN; the series is even at 45-45-19 (all ties). Buffalo is 16-27-11 all-time at VAN.
STORYLINES
Buffalo has gotten points in seven straight games (5-0-2) entering tonight’s game, for the first time since going 5-0-2 from Feb. 23 to March 6, 2011. The Sabres last had points in eight or more consecutive games from Dec. 26, 2009 to Jan. 18, 2010, when they
went 8-0-3 in11 games.
Ryan Miller is 5-0-1 in his last six games with a .966 save percentage and a 1.14 goals against average.
The Sabres, who are 0-5-1 (one tie) in their last six road meetings with the Canucks, are looking for their first win in Vancouver since a 2-0 victory on Feb. 28, 1999. The six games are the most they’ve gone without a road win against any team. Prior to those losses,
Buffalo had won four of their last five in Vancouver.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Sabres are 9-6-0 against the West and 2-0-0 against Northwest division teams this season; Vancouver is 6-0-0 against the Northeast… Buffalo is 25-3-2 when allowing two or fewer goals and 20-4-3 when scoring three or more… The Sabres are 8-1-3 when
Tyler Ennis records a point (35-9-7 in his career); Ennis has six points (2+4) in his last seven games and is on a four-game assist streak… Buffalo has scored first in their last eight games, going 5-1-2… The Sabres are 11-3-3 with Corey Tropp in the lineup.
IT’S MILLER TIME
Ryan Miller, coming off back-to-back shutouts, is 41:36 from breaking his longest shutout sequence. His personal record was set from Nov. 27 to Dec. 7, 2010. Miller became the fourth goaltender in Sabres history to record a shutout on consecutive nights with a 2-0 win
on Wednesday, followed by a 1-0 victory on Thursday. He was also the last Sabres goaltender to accomplish this feat, with shutout victories on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, 2011.
FAMILIAR FACES
After last week’s trade deadline deal between the Sabres and the Canucks, some of the traded players will see their old teams across the ice for the first time in their careers. Cody Hodgson, whoskated for a career-high 18:11 Thursday and is a plus-2 in two games with
the Sabres, will be taking on the team that drafted him for the first time in his short career. The same can be said for Canucks Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani. Alexander Sulzer, also acquired by Buffalo from Vancouver in the trade, has faced the Canucks four times in his career, recording one assist.
FAST STARTERS
Buffalo has led heading into the first intermission in each of their last three games, and six of their last eight. The two remaining games were tied after the first period, so Buffalo has not entered the second period at a disadvantage since Feb. 14 vs. NJD. The Sabres are
16-3-5 when leading after the first period, but are facing a Vancouver team that has only trailed after one a league-low 11 times this season and has the league’s best record when trailing after one (5-2-4).
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 534-398-183 (.561) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 83-45-21 (.628) in those games since the lockout. The Sabres are 8-3-3 (.679) since the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the
Olympic Games.
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