BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 67)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Jack Quinn (Achilles, Oct. 12; injured reserve) – 21 games
Tage Thompson (upper body, Nov. 17; injured reserve) – 5 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Nov. 25; injured reserve) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/25: Recalled forwards Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen from Rochester (AHL); Placed forward Zemgus Girgensons on injured reserve
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at RANGERS
• This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Rangers this season. • Next meeting: Saturday, Dec. 23 in New York. • Last meeting: New York defeated Buffalo 5-1 in Buffalo on Oct. 12. • The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games against the Rangers; 2-7-1 on the road. • This is the 201st game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has a 87-74-39 series record. • The Sabres are 35-43-21 on the road against the Rangers all-time.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Buffalo has earned at least one point in four of its last five games against New York, including wins in two of its last three matchups with the Rangers. • The Sabres have scored a power-play goal in each of their last four games (5-for-12, 41.7 percent) and a goal in tonight’s game would extend the streak to five games for the first time since Nov. 30 to Dec. 9, 2022 (9-for-22, 40.9 percent). • Nine different skaters have registered a power-play point during the streak, including Jeff Skinner, who has notched three of the five goals. • Kyle Okposo has tallied a goal in back-to-back games and a goal in tonight’s game would give him a three-game goal streak for the first time since he recorded a goal in three straight games from Oct. 21 to 27, 2018. • Jeff Skinner has recorded four points (3+1) in his last four games, including a goal in each of his last two. • A goal in tonight’s game would give Skinner his second three-game goal streak of 2023-24 and would give him 140 goals with Buffalo in his career and sole possession of 19th place on Buffalo’s all-time goals list, surpassing Jack Eichel. § He also recorded a goal in three consecutive games from Oct. 21 to 24 this season. • JJ Peterka has registered 14 points (6+8) in his last 13 games, including at least one point in five of his last six games. • Rasmus Dahlin has notched six points (1+5) in his last five games. • Alex Tuch has tallied 13 points (6+7) in his last 12 games, including three points (1+2) in his last two games. • A point in tonight’s game would give Tuch a three-game point streak. • Casey Mittelstadt has notched an assist in four consecutive games and an assist in tonight’s game would give him a fivegame assist streak, which would mark the longest of his career. • An assist in tonight’s game would make him the first Sabres forward to record an assist in five or more consecutive games since Alex Tuch recorded at least one assist in five straight games from April 6 to 13, 2023. • Victor Olofsson has recorded six points (2+4) in his last six games, including four assists in his last three.
NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:
RANGERS RUNDOWN
– The New York Rangers continue a three-game homestand a Eastern Conference matchup against the Buffalo Sabres (7:00 PM ET – TV: MSG Network – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). – The Blueshirts have the most wins in the NHL (15) and their most wins through 19 games in franchise history. New York’s .816 points percentage leads the league and its 31 points are tied for the most in the NHL with Boston. – New York has wins in three-straight, seven of its last eight games and points in 14 of its last 15 games (13-1-1). – At home, the Blueshirts are 6-1-0 and their seven home games are tied for the fewest in the NHL thus far. – On the year, New York is 8-1-0 against Eastern Conference opponents and 3-0-0 against Atlantic Division teams. – New York is currently riding a 14-game point streak against the Sabres (11-0-3) its current longest against one team – and are 14-2-3 in its last 19 contests against them. – The Blueshirts have allowed one or fewer goals a league-high nine times this season. The team has allowed the fewest GA/GP (2.32) in the NHL and the fewest total goals (44) in the league. – The Rangers have the best faceoff percentage in the NHL with a 54.0 percent mark and have been over 50 percent in the faceoff circle in 15 of 19 games. – The Rangers have the NHL’s third best (tied) power play percentage (30.0) and have scored power play goals in 14 of their first 19 games. The Rangers’ 18 power play goals are tied for the fourth most in the league. – The Blueshirts are 12-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game, the most such wins in the league, and have opened the scoring in 12 of their past 13 games. New York is 8-1-1 when leading after two periods. LAST GAME – The Rangers are 13-for-14 on the PK over their last three games and their 85.7 PK% ranks tied for seventh in the league. – The Rangers’ 342 blocked shots are the seventh most in the NHL. – New York has the third fewest giveaways in the NHL (103).
