BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:
LAST GAME
Saturday, April 8
Carolina 3 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Mittelstadt (2), Dahlin, Thompson
Goalie: Levi (31 saves/34 shots)
PP: 1/4; PK: 2/2; Shots: Carolina 34 – Buffalo 30
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 145)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Craig Anderson (upper body, March 31) – 5 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST SEVEN DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, April 11: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 13: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 14: Buffalo at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
SABRES AT RANGERS
• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Rangers this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New York 3-2 (OT) in Buffalo on March 31.
• The Sabres are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games against New York; 1-8-1 on the road.
• This is the 199th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has a 86-73-39 series record.
• The Sabres are 34-43-21 on the road against the Rangers all-time.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Each of the last three meetings between the Rangers and Sabres have been decided in overtime.
• A win in tonight’s game would give Buffalo 40 wins in a single season for the first time since the team won 43 games in 2010-11.
• Tage Thompson has recorded 43 points (20+23) in his last 42 games, including 24 points (11+13) in his last 23 games.
• Thompson has earned four points (2+2) during his current three-game point streak and a point in tonight’s game would give him a four-game point streak.
• A goal in tonight’s game would give Thompson his sixth goal streak of three or more games in 2022-23.
• Alex Tuch has notched 19 points (11+8) in his last 18 games, including nine points (5+4) in his last eight games.
• In his last seven games, Casey Mittelstadt has recorded 11 points (2+9), two more points than he has recorded in any other seven-game span in his career.
• Dylan Cozens has six points (3+3) in his last five games and a point in tonight’s game would give him a four-game point streak.
• Rasmus Dahlin is riding a five-game point streak (1+6) and an assist in tonight’s game would give him at least one an assist in six consecutive games for the first time in his career.
• Owen Power has earned seven assists in his last six games.
• With an assist in tonight’s game, Power would become the second Sabres rookie defenseman to record eight assists in a seven-game span and the first since Housley in 1982-83 (Feb. 18 to March 1).
• Jeff Skinner has registered five points (2+3) in his last five games.
BACK-TO-BACK
• Today’s game opens Buffalo’s 14th of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes with a road matchup with the Devils in New Jersey. The Sabres are 7-5-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 5-7-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (5), three points (0), two points (2), one point (2) and zero points (4).
NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:
LAST GAME
New York Rangers 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 0 – April 8, 2023 – Nationwide Arena
NYR Goals: J. Vesey (11), C. Kreider (36), N. Mikkola (1), V. Trocheck (22)
CBJ Goals: N/A
NYR Goalie: I. Shesterkin (W – 20/20)
CBJ Goalie: M. Hutchinson (L – 24/28)
NYR Shots: 28
CBJ Shots: 20
NYR PP: 0/2
NYR PK: 2/2
RECAP/NOTES: The Rangers closed out their road slate with a shutout victory against Columbus on Saturday night. The Rangers finished their regular season road slate with a 24-9-8 record for 56 points. In franchise history, the Blueshirts’ 56 road points rank tied for second and 24 wins are tied for the fifth most. In the win, Niko Mikkola scored his first goal as a Ranger.
RANGERS RUNDOWN
- The New York Rangers begin a two-game homestand to finish the regular season when the Buffalo Sabres come to Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET – TV: MSG Network – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). Tonight, the Steven McDonald Award winner will be announced in a pregame ceremony.
- The Blueshirts have clinched a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 62nd time in team history they have made the postseason. New York’s 14 playoff appearances since the 2005-06 season are tied for the second most in the NHL.
- The Rangers have reached the 100-point plateau for a second consecutive year and 12th time in team history. The Blueshirts’ 106 points are the seventh most in franchise history while their 47 wins are tied for the ninth most.
- New York has points five-straight contests (3-0-2), 15 of its last 17 games (12-2-3) and wins in 10 of its last 14 contests. Since March 9, the Rangers’ two regulation losses are tied for the second fewest in the NHL behind Edmonton (1).
- At home, the Rangers have won seven of their last eight and 12 of their last 15. The Blueshirts are 15-5-0 in their last 20 home games.
- Since December 5, New York is 36-11-7 for 79 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank second in points, points percentage (.731), tied for second in wins, third in goals per game (3.57), and fourth in power play percentage (25.5).
- New York is currently riding a 12-game point streak against the Sabres (10-0-2) and are 13-2-2 in its last 17 contests against them. At home against Buffalo, the Rangers have won six in a row and 10 of their last 11 contests.
- New York’s plus-58 goal differential and plus-28 differential in the third period ranks fourth in the NHL.
- With a 2.64 mark, the Rangers have allowed the fourth fewest goals against per game in the NHL.
- The Blueshirts have 21 comeback victories this season, tied for the fourth most in the NHL. New York is 15-2-5 when tied after two periods – their 15 wins are the most in the NHL.
- When scoring four or more goals, New York is 33-0-0 and the only team in the NHL to have a perfect such record.
- The Rangers defensemen group has compiled 192 points, the fourth most in the NHL.
- Mika Zibanejad has 20 power play goals on the year. The Rangers are the first team since the 1992-93 & 1993-94 Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins to have a different player score 20+ power play goals in back-to-back seasons as Chris Kreider had 26 last year.
- Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin are the third pair of teammates in Rangers history to simultaneously post consecutive 80-point campaigns following Rod Gilbert and Steve Vickers (1974-75 – 1975-76) as well as Gilbert and Jean Ratelle (1971-72 – 1972-73).
- For the fourth time (2022-23, 2015-16, 2010-11 and 2006-07) in the past 20 years, the Rangers have five different 20-plus goal scorers (Panarin, Zibanejad, Chytil, Trocheck, Kreider).
LAST FIVE GAMES
DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Apr. 8 at Columbus W, 4-0
Apr. 6 at St. Louis OTL, 3-2
Apr. 5 Tampa Bay W, 6-3
Apr. 2 at Washington W, 5-2
Mar. 31 at Buffalo OTL, 3-2
ALL-TIME RECORD 87-79-25-7 (206 PTS)
2022-23 1-0-1
2021-22 3-0-0
NYR HOME 49-31-15-3 (116 PTS)
NYR AWAY 38-48-10-4 (90 PTS)
LAST FIVE MEETINGS 4-0-1
LEADING SCORER(S) – CURRENT RANGERS IN CAREER G: Kane (12) – A: Panarin (19) – Pts: Panarin (29)
LEADING SCORER(S) – ALL-TIME IN GAMES W/NYR G: Gilbert (17) – A: Leetch (38) – Pts: Leetch/Gilbert (41)
2022-23 SEASON SERIES
March 11 at Buffalo OTW, 2-1
SPECIAL TEAMS
- On the penalty kill, New York has been perfect in 11 of its last 14 games.
- The Rangers have scored four power play goals over their last three games and have tallied a PPG in four of their last seven contests.
- Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts’ 88.6 PK percentage ranks first in the NHL.
