COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Thu, Dec. 1 at Buffalo 5 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Sat, Dec. 3 at Boston 5 p.m. Altitude 92.5
Mon, Dec. 5 at Philadelphia 5 p.m. Altitude 92.5
LAST GAME – Nov. 29 (Winnipeg 5, Colorado 0 at Canada Life Centre)
Blake Wheeler had a hat trick and Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 40 shots as the Jets defeated the Avalanche, 5-0, at Canada Life Centre … Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves for the Avs.
SF: 40 SA: 23 PP: 0-3 PK: 1-2
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO at BUFFALO
5:08 p.m. MT / 7:08 p.m. ET
Altitude / 92.5
TV: Marc Moser (play-by-play), Mark Rycroft (analyst), Katie Gaus (reporter)
Radio: Conor McGahey
The Colorado Avalanche continues their four-game road trip tonight in Buffalo against the Sabres … The Avs, who opened the trip with a 5-0 loss in Winnipeg on Tuesday, will head to Boston next to face the Bruins on Saturday before wrapping up the road swing on Monday in Philadelphia … The Avs are 8-3-0 in their last 11 games after starting the year 4-4-1 in their first nine contests.
AVALANCHE & SABRES
Tonight is the first of two meetings between the Avalanche and Sabres, both of which will take place in a two-week span in December … The Avalanche have won seven straight games in this series, including their last four visits to western New York … This current seven-game win streak over Buffalo is tied for Colorado’s third-longest active streak against any opponent (7-0-0 vs. Anaheim, 8-0-0 vs. Detroit, 9-0-0 vs. Los Angeles).
SCHEDULE vs. SABRES
Dec. 2 @ BUF
Dec. 15 vs. BUF
RECORD VS. SABRES
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME SINCE 1995-96
Overall: 0-0-0 Overall: 2-0-0 Overall: 67-60-22 Overall: 23-10-4
Home: 0-0-0 Home: 1-0-0 Home: 40-23-12 Home: 12-5-2
Road: 0-0-0 Road: 1-0-0 Road: 27-37-10 Road: 11-5-2
JUST CAN’T WAIT TO GET ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Colorado is 7-4-0 on the road this season, 8-4-0 if you include the one “home” game in Finland … The Avs had their four-game road winning treak snapped in Winnipeg on Tuesday … The Avalanche finished a league-best 9-1 on the road during the 2022 postseason, tied for the fewest road losses by a Stanley Cup champion since 1987 (the 2012 Kings and 1995 Devils were both 10-1) … Colorado earned all four series-clinching wins on the road.
QUARTER MARK
The Avalanche played their 20thgame of the season on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, the last NHL team to reach the unofficial quarter mark of their season … Colorado has the exact same record through 20 games as each of the previous two seasons (12-7-1) and nearly the same as three years ago (12-6-2).
AVALANCHE THROUGH 20 GAMES
UNDER JARED BEDNAR
2022-23 12-7-1 25 pts
2021-22 12-7-1 25 pts
2020-21 12-7-1 25 pts
2019-20 12-6-2 26 pts
2018-19 10-6-4 24 pts
2017-18 11-8-1 23 pts
2016-17 9-10-1 19 pts
ONE MONTH AT A TIME
The Avalanche finished 8-3-0 in November, the 23rd consecutive month that the Avs posted a .500 or better record in …. And 21 of those 23 months featured a winning record.
ALL HAIL CALE
Cale Makar recorded his 200th career point on Nov. 21 in Dallas, reaching the milestone faster than any defenseman in NHL history (195th game) … Cale hit the mark in 12 fewer games than Sergei Zubov (207) … As of Wednesday, Cale was tied for sixth among NHL defensemen in scoring this season with 21 points (6g/15a) in 20 contests … He shares the team lead with two game-winning goals, giving him 15 in his career, the most of any defenseman since he made his debut in 2019-20
FASTEST DEFENSEMEN TO 200 POINTS
NHL HISTORY
195 GP Cale Makar COL
207 GP Sergei Zubov NYR, PIT
211 GP Brian Leetch NYR
212 GP Phil Housley BUF
212 GP Denis Potvin NYI
216 GP Mark Howe HFD, PHI
216 GP Bobby Orr BOS
SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT
As of Wednesday, Colorado ranked third in the NHL in team save percentage at .921 … Individually, Alexandar Georgiev was fifth in that category with a .926 mark … Colorado’s netminders ranked sixth in the NHL in team goals-against average (2.57).
DROP DEAD GEOR-GIOUS
Alexandar Georgiev is 10-3-1 in 14 starts with the Avalanche, ranking among the NHL’s top 10 in wins, save percentage (.926) and win percentage (.750) … He earned his 10th victory of the season in his 13th appearance on Saturday night against Dallas, tied for the second-fewest games to 10 wins in a season in franchise history … The only netminders to reach 10 wins in 13 games or fewer are Stephane Fiset (11 games in 1994-95 and 13 in 2009-10), Dan Bouchard (11 in 1980-81), Craig Anderson (13 in 2009-10) and Jocelyn Thibault (13 in 1994-95) … Going back to last year with the Rangers, Georgiev is 18-4-1 in his last 24 games (23 starts).
THAT’S THE POWER OF LOVE
Colorado is the NHL’s top power play team at 32.4% (23-71) … The Avs scored a power-play goal in a season-high eight consecutive games from Oct. 29–Nov. 26 … The club posted a 39.3 success rate (11-28) in October, the second-best mark in a single month since relocating to Denver behind only November 2018 (40.0%) … The Avalanche’s power play scored at a 32.8% clip during the 2022 playoffs, the highest rate on record (since 1977-78) by an NHL team that played at least 20 games … During the 2021-22 regular season, Colorado finished seventh in power-play percentage (24.0%) and led all teams in power-play goals (67) … It marked the Avalanche’s fourth top-10 finish in the last five seasons.
VIEW TO A KILL
The Avalanche’s PK unit has allowed only three power-play goals in the last eight games (23/26, 88.5%), which included a season-high streak of 13 straight kills that was snapped on Saturday against Dallas …. As of Wednesday, the Avs’ PK ranked 21st at 76.8% after sitting 30th through games of Nov. 11 at 68.3%.
IT TAKES TWO BABY
Mikko Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 29 points, followed by Nathan MacKinnon with 28, both of which rank among the NHL’s top-10 scorers (as of Wednesday) … MacKinnon’s 22 assists ranked third in the league while Rantanen’s 13 goals tied him for seventh … Rantanen was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for Nov. 7-13 after MacKinnon was the NHL’s Second Star the week before from Oct. 31–Nov. 6.
CLIMBING THE FRANCHISE RECORD BOOKS
Nathan MacKinnon is tied with Gabriel Landeskog (248) for sixth place on the franchise’s all-time goals list, while Mikko Rantanen is tied with Matt Duchene (178) for ninth … With 428 career assists, MacKinnon is two behind Milan Hejduk (430) for fifth place on the career helpers list.
HOME COOKING
Mikko Rantanen has 23 points (11g/12a) in nine home games this season, which ranks him among the league leaders in home scoring … Mikko’s 2.56 points-per-game average on home ice is by far the highest in the NHL … He has two or more points in seven of his nine home outings, which includes five 3-point efforts and three 4-point nights.
SONG SUNG BLUE(LINE)
Colorado’s defensemen have combined for 55 points (12g/43a) this year, which ranks among the top 10 in the league … The Avs defense produced 64 goals last season, a franchise record and the most by any team since the 1992-93 Capitals (94) … The Avalanche’s blueline also lead all teams in points with a franchise-record 238, the most since the 1995-96 Red Wings had 240 … Colorado’s defensemen finished with 69 points (18g/51a) during the playoffs, the most by any blueline in a four-round postseason since the 1984-85 Oilers (77).
REVERSE RETRO JERSEY
The Avalanche debuted their adidas Reverse Retro 2022 ADIZERO jerseys in Saturday night’s victory over the Dallas Stars … The 2022 Colorado Avalanche Reverse Retro uniform pays tribute to its home state by incorporating colors of the Colorado flag while reintroducing the original jersey design donned in the 1995 inaugural season … The Avs will wear the RR jersey four times this season: Nov. 26 vs. Dallas, Dec. 11 at St. Louis, Dec. 29 vs. Los Angeles and Jan. 2 vs. Vegas
DAYDREAM BELIEVER
Colorado was originally scheduled for 10 afternoon games this season, which could be reduced to nine depending on the makeup date of the postponed Nashville game from Nov. 25 …. The Avs finished 5-1-0 in day games last year, 3-0-0 at home and 2-1-0 on the road … Colorado is 13-3-1 in day contests since the start of the 2019-20 campaign and 16-3-2 in home afternoon contests since 2017-18.
BACK-TO-BACK
The Avalanche were originally scheduled for 13 back-to-backs but that may be reduced to 12 depending on the makeup date of the Nov. 25th Nashville game that was postponed. … The Avs have played four back-to-backs so far, going 2-2-0 in the first game and 2-2-0 in the second … The Avalanche posted a 15-5-2 (.727) combined record in back-to-back games last season, the second-best mark behind Minnesota (.732, 19-6-3) … The Avs finished 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second (.773), with only Tampa (10-0-2, .917) posting a better record in the second half of a back-to-back.
POSTPONEMENT
The Avalanche and Predators game at Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 25 was postponed due to a water main break that significantly impacted the event level at the arena … A makeup date will be announced once it is determined.
FINNISH FIREWORKS
Led by Nathan MacKinnon’s seven combined points (0g/7a) and Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick in the opener, the Avalanche swept the two-game NHL Global Series from the Blue Jackets in early November, out-scoring Columbus 11-4 … Colorado’s six goals in the 6-3 opening win set an NHL record for a single game outside of North America while the 11 combined goals were also the most over a two-game overseas series … Rantanen’s hat trick was just the third outside of North America in history, while MacKinnon’s four helpers that first night set a record for the most assists in a single game outside of North America … Alexandar Georgiev started and won both games, allowing four goals 71 shots (2.02 GAA, .944 Sv%) … His two victories already equal the record for career wins in games played overseas … MacKinnon’s seven assists and eight career points (he had one goal in the 2017 Global Series in Sweden) are both records for games played outside North America.
SCHEDULE NOTES
The Avs will play 26 games against their division foes, meeting Arizona, Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis Winnipeg four times each (two home/away) and Chicago (two home/one away) and Minnesota (one home/two away) three times apiece … Colorado will play 24 games versus the Pacific Division (three times each) and 32 against teams from the Eastern Conference (one home/away).
MILE HIGH MAINSTAY
Erik Johnson is in his 15th NHL season and 13th with the Avalanche … His 13 seasons rank fourth in franchise history behind only Joe Sakic (20), Adam Foote (17) and Milan Hejduk (14), with Foote the only other defenseman on that list … Johnson is the longest current tenured athlete of any of Denver’s four major sports teams, followed by Gabriel Landeskog and Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon (both 12 seasons).
BEST SINCE 2019-20
The Avalanche are 149-59-20 (.697) since the start of the 2019-20 season, the most wins, points and best points percentage in the NHL … Only Tampa (49) has more playoff wins during that span
MOST WINS SINCE 2019-20 POINTS % SINCE 2019-20 PLAYOFF WINS SINCE 2019-20
Colorado 149 Colorado .697 Tampa Bay 49
Boston 147 Boston .691 Colorado 32
Tampa Bay 143 Carolina .668 NY Islanders 25
Florida 140 Tampa Bay .661 Vegas 23
Carolina 140 Toronto .659 Montreal 19
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH; AVS WIN STANLEY CUP
The Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup championship in 2022 following 1996 and 2001 … Colorado claimed its title by going 16-4 in the postseason, which included a pair of sweeps and defeating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning in six games during the Final … The Avs became the sixth team to win a Cup with four or fewer postseason losses since 1987 when the NHL went to four rounds of best-of-seven … And of those six only one team had fewer losses, the 1988 Oilers (two) … The Avalanche did not lose consecutive games all playoffs.
ALL I DO IS WIN WIN WIN NO MATTER WHAT
The 2021-22 Avalanche equaled the NHL record for the most combined regular season/playoff wins with 72 (56 regular season, 16 playoff), a feat only three teams in NHL history had achieved before … The 2021-22 Avalanche joined the 1995-96 Red Wings, 1983-84 Oilers and 1976-77 Canadiens on that list.
TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
The 2021-22 Avalanche posted their best home season in franchise history with a 32-5-4 record (68 points) … Colorado tied Florida for the league lead in home points, ending with the most home points in the NHL for the second straight season after tying Penguins for league lead with 46 in 2020-21 … The Avs are just the third team over the last 30 years to post the league’s best home record in back-to-back seasons (outright or tie), joining the 2016 and 2017 Capitals and the 2007 and 2008 Red Wings … Colorado went 30-3-3 over its final 36 contests at Ball Arena … The Avs posted an 18-game home winning streak from Nov. 11–Jan. 30, the fifth longest run in NHL history … The club had a franchise record 22-game home point streak (20-0-2) from Oct. 30–Feb. 10, the NHL’s longest since 2013-14 (Anaheim, 20-0-2) … Colorado recently completed its best 60-game home stretch in franchise history going 49-5-6 (.867) from March 10, 2021 to October 19, 2022.
RECORD REGULAR SEASON
The 2021-22 Avalanche set a franchise record with 56 wins and 119 points en route to winning their second straight division title and 11th since moving to Denver (13th in franchise history) … It marked the club’s first back-to-back division championships since their NHL-record run of nine straight from 1994-95 to 2002-03 … The Avs clinched the conference’s top spot despite facing a 10-point deficit behind the No. 1 seed on Dec. 3 … The last team to win their conference after overcoming a deficit of 10 or more points was the Rangers in 2014-15 (13) … After sweeping a back-to-back from Arizona on Jan. 15, the Avalanche remained in first place in the West over the final 106 days of the regular season … During a span of over two months from Feb 10–April 19, Colorado was first in the entire NHL for all but one day (68 out of 69)
WINS, FRANCHISE HISTORY POINTS, FRANCHISE HISTORY
56 2021-22 119 2021-22
52 2000-01 118 2000-01
52 2013-14 112 2013-14
AINT NO MOUNTAIN HIGH, AINT NO VALLEY LOW
Colorado’s Stanley Cup championship came five years after a last-place finish in 2016-17 …. The Avs became the fifth team in the expansion era (1967-68) to win a title within five years of a last place finish and the first since the 2009 Penguins … Colorado won the Presidents’ Trophy the previous year in 2020-21, becoming the first NHL team to go from worst to first overall in four seasons or less since the Bruins in 1970-71.
DOWN BUT NEVER OUT
Ten of the Avalanche’s wins during the 2022 postseason were earned in come-from-behind fashion, including four third-period comebacks … olorado’s 10 comeback wins tied the 2009 Penguins for the most in NHL history … The Avs trailed in all four of their series-clinching victories, the first team in NHL history to do so.
MAGIC YEAR FOR MAKAR
After becoming the first player in franchise history to win the Norris Trophy in 2021-22, Makar followed that up by winning the 2022 Conn Smythe as playoff MVP … At 23 years, 239 days, he became the youngest defenseman in 52 years to win the Conn Smythe and just the third overall to do so at age 23 or younger, joining Bobby Orr with the 1970 Bruins (22 years, 51 days) and Serge Savard with the 1969 Canadiens (23 years, 102 days) … Makar won the Conn Smythe just five days after receiving his first Norris Trophy … He became the third player to win both awards in the same season, following Orr in 1970 and Nicklas Lidstrom in 2002 … Makar led the Avalanche and all NHL defensemen with 29 points (8g/21a) in 20 games, the fourth-highest total by a defenseman in Stanley Cup Playoff history behind Paul Coffey (37) with the 1985 Oilers, Brian Leetch (34) with the 1994 Rangers and Al MacInnis (31) with the 1989 Flames.
IN BEDNAR WE TRUST
Jared Bednar is in his seventh season as the Avalanche’s head coach … Hired on Aug. 25, 2016, he is the third-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Jon Cooper (March 25, 2013) and Mike Sullivan (Dec. 12, 2015) … Jared led the 2021-22 Avalanche to their most successful regular season in franchise history (56-19-7, 119 points) and continued that into the postseason with a 16-4 playoff mark en route to capturing the 2022 Stanley Cup … Bednar, who won a Calder Cup with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016 and a Kelly Cup with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, became the first individual to win a championship in the NHL, AHL and ECHL as a head coach … He is the winningest coach in Avalanche history with a 252-175-47 (.581) regular season record … Bednar owns a 40-22-1 (.635) record in 63 postseason games, the best playoff winning percentage among active coaches and the third highest all time (min 50 GP) behind Glen Sather (.706) and Toe Blake (.689).
SUPER JOE ACHIEVES RARE FIRST
General Manager (now President) Joe Sakic, who captained the Avalanche to a pair of titles in 1996 and 2001, became the first individual in league history to win a Stanley Cup as a captain and GM with the same organization … He was just the third to win a championship as a player and general manager with the same franchise, joining Serge Savard of the Canadiens and Milt Schmidt of the Bruins.
TIP OF CAP
Gabriel Landeskog enters his 12th NHL season and 11th as team captain … Landeskog was the youngest captain in NHL history when he assumed the role at 19 years, 286 days on Sept. 4, 2012, a title he held for four years before Connor McDavid was given the ‘C’ by Edmonton at 19 years, 266 days on Oct. 5, 2016 … Landeskog is the second-longest serving captain in franchise history behind only Joe Sakic (17 seasons, 16 consecutive) … Only three players have been captain of their current teams longer:
Sidney Crosby (PIT) ………………… 16th season (since 2007-08)
Jonathan Toews (CHI) …………….. 15th season (since 2008-09)
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) ……………… 14th season (since 2009-10)
Gabriel Landeskog (COL) …………11th season (since 2012-13)
2022-23 AVALANCHE COACH’S CHALLENGES (3 W, 0 L)
W Oct. 28 at New Jersey – call on the ice overturned. Devils player was offsides, no goal
W Nov. 23 vs. Vancouver – call on the ice overturned for goaltender interference on Canucks player. No goal
W Nov. 29 at Winnipeg – call on the ice overturned for goaltender interference on Jets player. No goal
2022-23 AVALANCHE TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 23 – Jayson Megna, Oskar Olausson recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Oskar Olausson reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Nov. 24 – Anton Blidh, Sampo Ranta recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Nov. 25 – Anton Blidh, Sampo Ranta reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Nov. 26 – Kurtis MacDermid placed on Injured Reserve (retroactive to Nov. 12) … Anton Blidh, Sampo Ranta recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Anton Blidh, Sampo Ranta reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Nov. 28 – Anton Blidh recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Alex Galchenyuk signed to a one-year contract for the 2022-23 season .. Jean-Luc Foudy recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:
LAST GAME
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Buffalo 5 at Detroit 4 (SO)
Goals: Cozens (2), Samuelsson, Skinner, Quinn (SO)
Goalie: Anderson (40 saves/44 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 7/7; Shots: Detroit 44 – Buffalo 34
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 53)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Eric Comrie (Lower body, Nov. 19; IR) – 6 games
Jacob Bryson (Lower body, Nov. 25; IR) – 3 games
Ilya Lyubushkin (Undisclosed, Nov. 30) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/25: Activated F Kyle Okposo from IR; Placed D Jacob Bryson on IR
11/27: Placed F Riley Sheahan on unconditional waivers
11/28: Terminated the contract of F Riley Sheahan
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Dec. 4: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 7: Buffalo at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 9: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 13: Los Angeles at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
AVALANCHE at SABRES
• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and the Avalanche this season.
• Last meeting: Colorado defeated Buffalo 5-3 in Buffalo on Feb. 19, 2022.
• Next meeting: Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 in Colorado.
• The Sabres are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games against the Avalanche; 2-6-2 at home.
• This is the 150th game all-time between Buffalo and Colorado; Buffalo has a 62-63-24 series record.
• The Sabres are 38-25-11 at home against the Avalanche all-time.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Each of the last 16 meetings between these clubs has been decided in regulation.
• Tage Thompson has notched 26 points (13+13) in his last 16 games.
• Thompson recorded a hat trick in his last game against Colorado on Feb. 19, 2022.
• Jeff Skinner owns 12 points (8+4) in his last 10 games, including nine (6+3) in his last five.
• Skinner has scored at least one goal in four of his last five games.
• Skinner has recorded three points (0+3) in his last two games against Colorado and a point in tonight’s game would give him a three-game point streak against the Avalanche for the first time in his career.
• Seven Sabres skaters (Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Mattias Samuelsson, Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson) need one point in tonight’s game to record a three-game point streak.
• Dylan Cozens has tallied 10 points (4+6) in his last 10 games.
• Cozens has scored four goals in his last four games.
• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded nine points (1+8) in his last eight games.
• Jack Quinn owns six points (3+3) in his last six games.
MAKING HISTORY
• The Sabres have converted on 26.2 percent of their power play opportunities through their first 23 games in 2022-23.
o The current franchise record for power play percentage in a single season is 24.5 percent in 2016-17.
• Buffalo currently owns a 5-on-5 shot attempts percentage of 52.2 percent, the highest mark by a Sabres team in a single season since the league began tracking the stat in 2009-10.
• Buffalo’s 3.70 goals scored per game is highest by a Sabres team since the 1992-93 Sabres recorded 3.99 goals per game.
• Three Sabres skaters (Rasmus Dahlin, 1.18, Jeff Skinner, 1.00; Tage Thompson, 1.26) have scored at least one point per game played through the team’s first 23 games.
• The 2006-07 Sabres were the last team in franchise history to have three or more skaters with at least one point per game played (Maxim Afinogenov, 1.09; Daniel Briere, 1.17; Thomas Vanek, 1.02).
GET IN LINE
• According to Natural Stat Trick, the line of Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch owns a corsi for percentage of 62.78 and an expected goals for percentage of 55.75.
• When on the ice together, Skinner, Thompson and Tuch have recorded 24 goals and allowed just 12.
• The trio has recorded a combined 35 goals on the season, 41.18 percent of all goals scored by Buffalo skaters in 2022-23.
• Skinner (6 multi-point games), Thompson (7 multi-point games) and Tuch (5 multi-point games) have all recorded multiple points in at least five games in 2022-23.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, Skinner and Thompson were two of the 16 NHL skaters who had recorded three or more multi-goal games.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
• According to Natural Stat Trick, despite just 43.75 percent of their faceoff opportunities coming in the offensive zone, the line combination consisting of Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn has produced 27 high-danger scoring chances at 5-on5 for the Sabres in 72:43 of ice time at 5-on-5 together.
• All but three of the high-danger scoring chances they have created as a line have come at 5-on-5.
• At 5-on-5, the line’s expected goals for percentage is 64.48 and their corsi for percentage is 56.88.
• The line’s collective 5-on-5 corsi for percentage and 5-on-5 expected goals for percentage is higher than each individual member’s percentages without the other two.
• Cozens (21), Peterka (20) and Quinn (21) are all 21 years of age or younger.
THE TAGE OF AQUARIUS
• Through Buffalo’s first 23 games, Thompson is on pace for 103 points and would become just the sixth Sabres skater to record 100 or more points in a single season (Pat LaFontaine, 148 points in 1992-93; Alexander Mogilny, 127 points in 1992-93; Gilbert Perreault, 113 points in 1975-76 and 106 points in 1979-80; Pierre Turgeon, 106 points in 1989-90 and Rene Robert, 100 points in 1974-75).
• Thompson is also on pace to score 50 goals in 2022-23, which would make him the first Sabres skater since Alexander Mogilny (76) in 1992-93 to record 50 or more goals in a single season.
A 50-goal season would make Thompson just the fifth skater (Danny Gare, Pat LaFontaine, Rick Martin, Mogilny) in franchise history to reach that plateau at least once.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday night and dating back to Oct. 29, Thompson ranked second in the NHL in goals (13) and points (26) and was fifth in points per game (1.63).
• Thompson leads all Sabres skaters in goals (14), points (29), even-strength points (18), points per game (1.26), shots (104) and power-play goals (5).
• Thompson is also tied for the team lead in even-strength goals (8) and shorthanded goals (1).
• Thompson is tied for first among all Sabres forwards in time on ice per game (18:32) and all Sabres skaters in time on ice per shift (0:49).
• According to Natural Stat Trick, Thompson leads all Sabres skaters with 48 individual high-danger scoring chances and 38 individual high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, Thompson was tied for fourth in the league with 104 shots on goal and was one of seven NHL players who had recorded 100 or more shots in 2022-23.
• Thompson owned the highest shooting percentage among the seven players who had recorded 100 or more shots on goal (13.5).
MR. 300
• Rasmus Dahlin is playing in his 300th NHL game tonight.
• He is the 26th defenseman to play 300 or more games with the Sabres.
• Per NHL Stats, Dahlin is one of eight Swedish-born defensemen, and the first since John Klingberg (Nov. 11, 2014 to March 31, 2018), with 186 or more points through their first 300 NHL games.
• Of the eight Swedish-born defensemen to accomplish this feat, Dahlin is the only one who began his NHL career at 18 years of age or younger.
• With a point in tonight’s game, Dahlin would pass Tomas Jonsson (186 points) for sole possession of seventh place all-time for points by a Swedish-born defenseman through his first 300 games.
• Dahlin owns the second-most points (186) through his first 300 games among defensemen selected with the No. 1 pick in an NHL Draft, behind only Denis Potvin (289 points).
LIFE IN THE RAS LANE
• Rasmus Dahlin is on pace for 96 points this season, which would shatter Phil Housley’s single-season franchise points record by a Sabres defenseman (81).
• Dahlin is also on pace to become the first NHL defenseman to score 29 or more goals in a single season since Brent Burns (29) in 2016-17. He would also become the second Sabres defensemen, and the first since Phil Housley (29) in 1987-88, to record 29 or more goals in a single season.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, among NHL defensemen, Dahlin ranked second in goals (8), second in points (26), third in points per game (1.18), tied for first in power-play goals (4) and power-play points (13), third in time on ice per game (26:07) and tied for fifth in shots (74).
• Through his first 22 games, Dahlin has only failed to record a point on four occasions (Oct. 27 vs. Montreal, Nov. 12 vs. Boston, Nov. 23 vs. St. Louis and Nov. 25 vs. New Jersey).
• Dahlin (574:25) and Owen Power (545:35) are the only Sabres skaters who have logged more than 500 or more minutes of ice time through the team’s first 23 games.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, only 5 total skaters in the NHL had skated 574 or more minutes in 2022-23 and Dahlin is the only one with fewer than 23 games played.
UNLIMITED POWER
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, Owen Power and Jake Sanderson were the only defensemen aged 20 or younger who had notched 10 or more points this season.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, Owen Power ranked third among rookie defensemen in points (10) and was second in even-strength points (7).
• Entering play on Tuesday, Power led all rookie skaters in time on ice per game (23:43), with the next closest rookie at 20:53 (Sanderson).
• Power’s time on ice per game trails just Tyler Myers (23:44) in 2009-10 by one second for the most by a Sabres rookie in a single season.
• Through Buffalo’s first 23 games, Power has recorded multiple points on three separate occasions (Oct. 20, 0+2; Nov. 2, 0+2; Nov. 5, 0+2), tied for second among rookie skaters in 2022-23 following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday.
• Following Buffalo’s game on Wednesday, Power was tied for sixth among all NHL defensemen in primary assists (8) this season.
ONE BUFFALO
• The Sabres and the Buffalo Bills are playing on the same day for the only time this season after doing so three times last season.
• The teams have previously played on the same date 251 times, with both teams winning their respective games on 54 of those days.
• The Sabres are 133-82-36 when playing on a Bills game day and the Bills enter this game 103-146-2 on those dates.
• Of the 251 days on which both teams have played, 22 have been Bills playoff game days, including the AFC Championship games in 1992, 1993 and 2021. The Sabres are 12-9-1 on Bills playoff game days.
• The last time the Sabres and Bills both won on the same date was Nov. 24, 2019.
BACK-TO-BACK
• Tonight’s game brings Buffalo’s fourth of 13 sets of back-to-back games this season to a close. The Sabres are 2-2-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-2-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (0), one point (0) and zero points (2).
