NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
Last Game:
Minnesota Wild 2 (OT) New Jersey Devils 1
(41-22-8 – 90 PTS) (45-18-8 – 98 PTS)
SCORE 1ST 2ND 3RD OT SO FINAL
Minnesota 0 0 1 1 – 2
DEVILS 0 0 1 – – 1
Three Stars: 1. M. Boldy 2. T. Meier 3. V. Vanecek
Goals:
MIN: M. Shaw, M. Boldy (OTG)
NJD: T. Meier
INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 71
Mackenzie Blackwood I.R. Lower-body 2/21/23 15
Nate Bastian Upper-body 3/13/23 5
Curtis Lazar Undisclosed 3/19/23 2
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 197
TRANSACTIONS
DATE PLAYER ACTION
3/17/23 Nolan Foote Recalled from Utica
WHAT TO KNOW
The Devils enter Friday night’s contest two points shy for 100 in the standings. The Devils finished a regular season with 100, or more, points 13 times in franchise history. The last time that the Devils finished a regular season with 100, or more, points was 2011-12, when New Jersey also advanced to the Stanley Cup final. The most points that Jersey’s team earned in a single season was 111, which was earned in 2000-01. The Devils enter Friday’s contest with a 1-2-2 record in their last five games dating to Mar. 14, vs Tampa. The Devils enter Friday’s contest six wins shy of tying the franchise record (51) for the most wins in a single season, which was earned in 2008-09. The last time that the Devils earned more than 45 wins in a season was in 2011-12 (48-28-6). The team earned more than 45 wins in a season 11 times for franchise history. The Devils open their 11th back-to-back set for 2022-23. Jersey’s team is 5-4-1 in first half games played for back-to-back sets this
season, and 8-2-0 in second half games played.
RUNNING WITH THE DEVILS (ON THE ROAD)
New Jersey enters Saturday’s contest tied with Boston for the most road wins in the NHL this season with 26. New Jersey is 26-5-4 away from the Rock this season, while the team’s points% (.800) on the road ranks first in the NHL – Boston is second at .750. New Jersey logged 28 road wins (28-10-3) in 1998-99, which marked the most road victories in franchise history. The Devils are scheduled for five more road games, after Friday night’s contest.
MARCH MADNESS
The Devils’ schedule for March entails 16 games, which marks the most contests that the team plays in a single month this season. The second most games played in a single month this season was 14 in November, after the team posted a 13-1-0 record. New Jersey’s schedule entails six more games vs Divisional opponents, while the next MET contest is on Mon. Mar. 27, at NYI.
VS CONFERENCE/DIVISION
The Devils are 21-4-5 vs the Western Conference this season. The franchise record for most wins vs the Western Conference was 18, which was logged in 2000-01.. The Devils enter Sunday’s contest with a 24-14-3 record vs the Eastern Conference and 10-9-1 vs the Atlantic Division.
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
Overall: 13-6-1
First game: 5-4-1 | home: 0-1-0 | road: 5-3-1
Second game: 8-2-0 | home: 3-2-0 | road: 5-0-0
BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:
LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 21
Nashville 7 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Cozens, Thompson, Skinner
Goalies: Anderson (14 saves/20 shots); Luukkonen (6 saves/6 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 1/4; PK: 3/3; Shots: Buffalo 31 – Nashville 27
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 131)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Eric Comrie (lower body, March 10) – 6 games
Mattias Samuelsson (upper body, March 13) – 5 games
Jordan Greenway (upper body, March 21) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST SEVEN DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, March 25: Buffalo at NY Islanders, 5:00 p.m.
Monday, March 27: Montreal at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, March 31: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 1: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 4: Buffalo at Florida, 7:00 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
DEVILS AT SABRES
• This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season.
• Last meeting: New Jersey defeated Buffalo 3-1 in Buffalo on Nov. 25, 2022.
• Next meeting: Tuesday, April 11 in New Jersey
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games against the New Jersey; 4-5-1 at home.
• This is the 172nd game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 83-60-28 series record.
• The Sabres are 44-31-12 at home against the Devils all-time.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• A win tonight would give Buffalo 34 wins on the season, two more than they earned in 82 games in 2021-22.
• The Sabres last earned 34 or more wins in a season in 2015-16 (35).
• Alex Tuch has recorded 10 points (6+4) in his last 10 games dating back to Feb. 15 at Anaheim.
• Tage Thompson has recorded 38 points (17+21) in his last 37 games, including 19 points (8+11) in his last 18 games.
• Thompson needs one goal in tonight’s game to become the first Sabres skater to record 44 or more goals in a season since Pat LaFontaine (53) and Alexander Mogilny (76) in 1992-93.
• Jeff Skinner has notched 18 points (10+8) in his last 18 games.
• JJ Peterka has notched four points (1+3) in his last four games.
BACK-TO-BACK
• Today’s game opens Buffalo’s 12th of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes with a road matchup with the New York Islanders tomorrow. The Sabres are 5-5-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-7-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (3), three points (0), two points (2), one point (2) and zero points (4).
