NEW JERSEY DEVILS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Toronto Maple Leafs 2 New Jersey Devils 1
(11-5-5—22 PTS) (16-4-0—33 PTS)
Three Stars: M. Murray 2. D. Hamilton 3. J. Siegenthaler
Goals:
TOR: J. Tavares, P. Holmberg
SCORE 1
ST 2
ND 3
RD OT SO FINAL
Toronto `2 0 0 – – 2
DEVILS 0 0 1 – – 1
New Jersey Devils: Media Notes
NJD: D. Hamilton
INJURIES/ILLNESS
PLAYER INJURY OUT SINCE GAMES MISSED
Jonathan Bernier – LTIR Lower-body, hip 2021-22 20
Ondrej Palat I.R. Lower-body Retro-active to Oct. 24 14
Mackenzie Blackwood Lower-Body, MCL sprain Nov. 3 9
2022-23 Total Man-Games Lost to Injury/illness: 48
TRANSACTIONS
DATE PLAYER ACTION
11/12 Nico Daws Recalled from Utica
Mackenzie Blackwood Placed on I.R. retro to Nov. 3
11/13 Nico Daws Reassigned to Utica
11/22 Kevin Bahl Reassigned to Utica
Alexander Holtz Reassigned to Utica
WHAT TO KNOW
The Devils’ memorable 13-game winning streak ended on Wednesday night, after Toronto defeated Jersey’s team 2-1 at the Rock.
The Devils’ streak tied the franchise record for consecutive wins in a single season, which was earned Feb. 26, 2001, to Mar. 23, 2001.
The streak marked the NHL’s longest winning streak for the 2022-23 campaign, while Vegas’ nine-game winning streak ranked second for this season: Oct. 24-Nov. 10 (9-0-0).
The Devils enter tonight’s contest vs Buffalo with a 7-1-0 record in one-goal games. The seven wins are tied with Los Angeles and Vegas for the most wins decided by one goal in the NHL this season.
Tonight marks the second time this season that New Jersey entails a back-to-back set. The team hosts Washington on Saturday night.
On Wednesday, the Devils trailed 2-0 after the first period for the first time on their 13-game winning streak. The team trailed by two goals once on the streak, which was on Nov. 3, at Edmonton, when the team trailed the Oilers 3-1 after the second period (4-3, W).
The Devils earned five shots on goal in the first period, which tied a season-low for shots on goal in a single period this season (3 times, last: 11/21, vs EDM, 1st period, 5-2, W).
On Wednesday, the Devils were held scoreless after two periods of play for the second time this season, last: Oct. 28, vs COL, 1-0, W. The Devils are now 9-1-0 vs Canadian opponents this season.
After Wednesday’s loss, the Devils are 1-4-0 when trailing after two periods of play this season. Jersey also fell to 6-1-0 when trailing first in a game this season.
The team is 10-1-0 for the month of November, which tied the franchise record for the most wins in November: 10 wins: 1997-98 (10-4-0).
After Wednesday’s loss, the team recorded less than three goals in a game for the first time this season since Jersey’s 1-0 win over Colorado on Oct. 28, at the Rock (9 games).
The Devils are 13-4-0 when outshooting an opponent this season.
Jersey’s team enters Friday’s contest riding an eight-game road winning streak, which ranks third in franchise history. The Devils’ longest road winning streak was earned via Feb. 27, 2001, to Apr. 7.
Jersey’s second longest road winning streak is nine games, which was earned from Oct. 8, 2009, to Nov. 12.
Looking ahead…The last time the Devils were in first place for their division after the team’s first 20 games to start a season was Nov.
21, 2017, per NHL Pr.
As of Nov. 24, the Devils ranked first in the NHL in shots against, per game at 24.8, while Carolina ranks second at 25.4.
Additionally, as Nov. 24, the Devils are ranked second for shots on goal, per game, at 36.4 behind the Florida Panthers (40.4).
Since 1994-95, the franchise’s first Stanley Cup championship, the Devils have finished a season averaging under 25 shots against, per game seven times:
23.7 1997-98
24.7 1998-99
24.7 2000-01
23.2 2001-02
23.6 2002-03
24.4 2003-04
23.1 2012-13
The team clinched a playoff berth in six of those seasons, while winning a Stanley Cup championship in 2002-03, plus advancing to the Stanley Cup final in 2000-01. The team didn’t clinch a playoff berth in the shortened (lockout year) in 2012-13. Since 1994-95, the team’s highest shots per game total is 33.1, which was earned in 1999-00. The team then won its second Stanley Cup championship.
The Devils officially announced and revealed their second-ever Adidas Reverse Retro sweater, which turns back the clock and nods to the franchise’s Colorado roots. The team is scheduled to wear the sweaters four times this season and twice on the road:
Dec. 3, at PHI, 7:00 P.M.
Dec. 9, vs NYI, 7:00 P.M.
Dec. 30, at PIT, 7:00 P.M.
Jan. 7, vs NYR, 1:00 P.M.
2022-23 TEAM STATS
RECORD ON DAYS OF THE WEEK
The Devils record on Friday in 2022-23…1-0-0…at home: 1-0-0…road: 0-0-0
Record in night games in 2022-23…13-4-0…home: 6-3-0…road: 7-1-0
Record in day games in 2022-23…3-0-0…home: 2-0-0…road: 1-0-0
2022-23 Alternate jersey record…2-0-0
RECORD WHEN SCORING FIRST
Scoring first…10-3-0…Trailing first…6-1-0
DATE/TIME OPPONENT RESULT
Oct. 18, 7:00 P.M. vs ANA 4-2, W
Oct 28, 7:00 P.M. vs COL 1-0, W
Dec. 6, 7:00 P.M. vs CHI
Dec. 13, 7:00 P.M. vs DAL
Jan. 1, 3:00 P.M. Vs CAR
Jan. 5, 7:00 P.M. Vs STL
Feb. 6, 7:30 P.M. Vs VAN
Feb. 21, 7:00 P.M. Vs MTL
Mar. 30, 7:00 P.M. Vs NYR
Apr. 11, 7:00 P.M. HOME FINALE Vs BUF
AROUND THE RINK THE RINK
On Mon. Nov. 21, the Devils hosted their annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
FUNDS RAISED WILL BENEFIT DAVID E. ZULLO PEDIATRIC PALLIATIVE CARE PROGRAM AT BRISTOL MYERS SQUIBB CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AT ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, AN RWJBARNABAS HEALTH FACILITY.
The Devils hosted nine-year-old Richard “RJ” Ferguson, a cancer patient and lifelong Devils fan, and his family at the game. RJ, from Middletown, New Jersey, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in May 2022 and continues his treatment at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
VS BUFFALO
The Devils and the Buffalo face-off for the first of three matchups this season:
Mar. 24, at BUF, 7:00 P.M.
Apr. 11, vs BUF, 7:00 P.M.
ALL-TIME vs BUFFALO
Record: 70-74-17-9
Home: 36-36-9-3
Road: 34-38-8-6
Points Leader: Patrik Elias…12g-30a=42 PTS, 60 GP
Goaltender Wins: Martin Brodeur 33-16-5-4, 3 shutouts
DID YOU KNOW…
The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs Buffalo is eight, earned twice, last recorded on Feb. 25, 2004, in an 8-2 win at the Meadowlands.
The most goals allowed in a single game vs Buffalo is 8, logged four times, last recorded on Jan. 15, 1992, at the Meadowlands.
The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs Buffalo is 54, which was logged on Dec. 29, 1990, in a 4-4 tie at the Meadowlands.
The most shots in franchise history allowed in a single game vs Buffalo was on Feb. 2, 1975 (KCS), after the team surrendered 58 shots.
The last time the Devils shut out Buffalo was on Dec. 15, 2015, in a 2-0 win at Buffalo.
The last time Buffalo shut out the Devils was on Mar. 26, 2011, in a 2-0 loss at Buffalo.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sat. Nov. 26, vs WSH, 7:00 P.M.
Mon. Nov. 28, at NYR, 7:00 P.M.
Thu. Dec. 1, vs NSH, 7:00 P.M. E.T.
Sat. Dec. 3, at PHI, 7:00 P.M.
Tues. Dec. 6, vs CHI, 7:00 P.M.
LAST TRADE
The last time that the Devils and Buffalo executed a trade was on July 28, 2021, when Jersey dealt Will Butcher and a 2022 fifth-round draft pick in exchange for future considerations. Fabian Zetterlund enters tonight’s contest riding a career-high four-game point streak and assist streak (0g-4a). Zetterlund’s prior career-high point streak was three games, which was earned via Apr. 26, 2022, to Apr. 29 (2g-2a=4 PTS). Jesper Bratt entails 24 PTS (8g-16a) entering Friday’s contest:
Below – the most points earned by a skater in franchise history (NJD/CLR/KCS) after the team’s first 20 games played to start a season:
PLAYER GP SEASON POINTS
PAUL GARDNER (CLR) 20 1977-78 18g-11a=29
WILF PAIEMENT 20 1977-78 12g-15a=27
ZACH PARISE 20 2009-10 13g-13=26
JESPER BRATT 20 PRESENT 8g-16a=24
PATRICK ELIAS 20 2001-02 13g-11a=24
PETER STASTNY 20 1991-92 10g-14a=24
ZACH PARISE 20 2008-09 13g-11a=24
The Swedish native owns 17 career points vs Buffalo (6g-11a), which is the forward’s second-most point total vs an opponent for his
career. Bratt’s highest career point total vs an opponent is against Philadelphia (7g-11a).
Devils skaters aren’t shy towards multi-point performances this season…
2022-23 Multi-Point Games
Yegor Sharangovich enters tonight’s contest riding a four-game point streak (3g-2a=5 Pts). The Belarus native’s career-high point streak is seven games (5g-6a=11 PTS), which was earned from Feb. 8, 2022, to Feb. 28. Since the team’s 13-1-0 record dating to Oct. 25, Nico Hischier owns 16 PTS (7g-9a), which ranks second on the team behind Jack Hughes (6g-12a=18 PTS). Keep in mind that the Devils are 14-0-0 when Hischier records a point in a game played this season. Dawson Mercer played in his 102 nd career NHL contest on Wednesday. Mercer played in all 82 games last season, and owns the third longest consecutive games played streak to start an NHL career in franchise history:
PLAYER TEAM START
DATE END DATE STREAK G A P
Scott Gomez New Jersey Devils 10/2/1999 2/17/2001 140 28 89 117
Ed Gilbert Kansas City Scouts 10/9/1974 1/7/1976 121 20 30 50
Dawson Mercer New Jersey Devils 10/15/2021 PRESENT 102 22 30 52
Kirk Muller New Jersey Devils 10/12/1984 11/30/1985 101 24 45 69
Tom Edur Colorado Rockies 10/5/1976 11/30/1977 100 12 32 44
Nico Hischier New Jersey Devils 10/7/2017 11/11/2018 97 23 41 64
(Per NHL Pr)
QUICK HITS
As of Nov. 24, and since Oct. 25, Tomas Tatar is a +17, Jonas Siegenthaler is a +16, Ryan Graves is a +16, Nico Hischier is +14, which ranks 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and fourth in the NHL, respectively. Siegenthaler’s +19 plus/minus rating ranks first (tied, H. Linholdm) for all NHL defensemen for the 2022-23 campaign. Graves’ +17 rating ranks second in the NHL for all defensemen. Nico Hischier enters his third season as team captain. Damon Severson is the longest-tenured Devil via 2014-15. Dawson Mercer is the first player in franchise history to wear No. 91. Mercer donned No. 18 last season, which was taken over by two-time Stanley Cup champion Ondrej Palat.
COACH’S CORNER
Head coach Lindy Ruff earned his 783rd career regular-season win on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, and now ranks fifth all-time for NHL head coaches. Ruff was tied with the great Al Arbour for fifth all-time at 782. Ruff returns to Buffalo two wins shy of earning 800 career regular-season wins, only K. Hitchcock, B. Trotz, Joel Quenneville and Scotty Bowman earned 800-or-more career wins all-time. Vitek Vanecek earned nine wins in nine consecutive decisions until Wednesday night’s defeat vs Toronto. For goaltenders that have played in five or more games since Oct. 25
Vanecek’s nine wins are tied for first with Boston’s L. Ullmark His GAA ranks second in the NHL: 1.83
BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:
LAST GAME
Wednesday, Nov. 23
St. Louis 2 at Buffalo 6
Goals: Skinner (2), Quinn (2), Cozens, Olofsson
Goalie: Luukkonen (34 saves/36 shots)
PP: 2/3; PK: 2/3; Shots: St. Louis 36 – Buffalo 32
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 45)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Kyle Okposo (Lower body, Nov. 12; IR) – 6 games
Eric Comrie (Lower body, Nov. 19; IR) – 3 games
Rasmus Asplund (Upper body, Nov. 23) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/20: Claimed F Tyson Jost off waivers from the Minnesota Wild; Assigned F Anders Bjork to Rochester (AHL)
11/22: Activated D Mattias Samuelsson from IR; Assigned F Riley Sheahan to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Nov. 28: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 30: Buffalo at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 1: Colorado at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 4: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 7: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
DEVILS at SABRES
• This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New Jersey 5-2 in New Jersey on April 21, 2022.
• Next meeting: Friday, March 24, 2023 in Buffalo.
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games against the Devils; 4-5-1 at home.
• This is the 171st game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 83-59-28 series record.
• The Sabres are 44-30-12 at home against the Devils all-time.
HINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Jeff Skinner has recorded nine points (6+3) in his last five games. A point tonight would give Skinner his best six-game stretch since he notched 10 points (5+5) in six games from Oct. 21 to Nov. 3, 2018.
• Skinner has only topped 10 points in a six-game stretch once in his career during the 2013-14 season.
• Tage Thompson has tallied 23 points (12+11) in his last 13 games.
• Alex Tuch has tallied 10 points (3+7) during his current five-game point streak, which marks the best five-game output of his NHL career.
• Rasmus Dahlin has recorded six points (1+5) in his last five games.
• Dylan Cozens (1+6) and Jack Quinn (2+5) both have seven points in their last seven games, including at least a point in each of the last three.
SPEAK OF THE DEVILS
• Dating back to the beginning of the 2019-20 season, the Sabres have converted on 14 of their 33 power-play opportunities against the Devils (42.4)
• Rasmus Dahlin has 17 points (3+14) in 15 career games against the Devils and has tallied at least a point in 12 of those 15 contests.
o Dahlin’s 17 points against New Jersey are his highest career total against any single NHL opponent.
• Victor Olofsson has more points against the Devils (14) than any other NHL opponent and his six career goals against New Jersey tie his output against Washington for his highest goal total against an NHL team.
• Alex Tuch enters tonight’s contest on a five-game point streak against the Devils, tallying seven points (2+5) during that span.
• Tage Thompson has six points (3+3) in his last five games against New Jersey.
LINE DANCING
• According to Natural Stat Trick, the line of Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch owns a corsi for percentage of 64.33 and an expected goals for percentage of 55.64.
• The trio has recorded a combined 32 goals on the season, 42.67 percent of all goals scored by Buffalo skaters in 2022-23.
• Skinner (6 multi-point games), Thompson (6 multi-point games) and Tuch (5 multi-point games) have all recorded multiple points in at least five games in 2022-23.
TAGED ANIMAL
• According to NHL Stats, Tage Thompson is just the ninth Sabres skater in franchise history to record four or more points in a single game on multiple occasions through the team’s first 19 games of a season (Donald Audette, Jack Eichel, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, Rick Martin, Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert, Thomas Vanek).
• Through Buffalo’s first 20 games, Thompson is on pace for 106 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).
• Dating back to Oct. 29, Thompson ranks second in the NHL in goals (12), is tied for first in points (23) and ranks third in points per game (1.77).
• Thompson leads all Sabres skaters in goals (13), points (26), points per game (1.30), shots (94) and power-play goals (5).
• Thompson is also tied for the team lead in even-strength points (16), even-strength goals (7) and shorthanded goals (1).
• Thompson ranks second among all Sabres forwards in time on ice per game (18:23), trailing just Alex Tuch (18:24).
• According to Natural Stat Trick, Thompson leads all Sabres skaters with 42 individual high-danger scoring chances.
• Thompson ranks fourth in the league with 94 shots on goal and is one of five NHL players who had recorded 90 or more shots in 2022-23 (Timo Meier, 110; David Pastrnak, 102; Nathan MacKinnon, 95; Mika Zibanejad, 92).
• Thompson owns the highest shooting percentage among the five (13.8).
A LITTLE RAS-LE DAZZLE
• Rasmus Dahlin is on pace for 98 points this season, which would shatter the single-season franchise points record by a Sabres defenseman.
• Dahlin is also on pace to become the first NHL defenseman to score 34 or more goals in a single season since Kevin Hatcher (34) in 1992-93. He would also be the second Sabres defensemen, and the first since Phil Housley (31) in 1983-84, to record 30 or more goals in a single season.
• Among NHL defensemen this season, Dahlin ranks second in goals (8), tied for second in points (23), third in points per game (1.21), tied for first in power-play goals (4), second in power-play points (12), third in time on ice per game (26:06) and fifth in shots (67).
• Through his first 19 games, Dahlin has only failed to record a point on three occasions (Oct. 27 vs. Montreal, Nov. 12 vs. Boston and Nov. 23 vs. St. Louis).
• Dahlin (495:52) and Owen Power (472:40) are the only two Sabres skaters who have logged more than 400 minutes of ice time through the team’s first 20 games.
• Only 15 total skaters in the NHL have skated 470 minutes or more this season.
POWER UP
• Owen Power ranks third among rookie defensemen in points (9) and is tied for second in even-strength points (6).
• Power leads all rookie skaters in time on ice per game (23:38), with the next closest rookie at 20:54 (Jake Sanderson).
• Through Buffalo’s first 20 games, Power has recorded multiple points on three separate occasions (Oct. 20, 0+2; Nov. 2, 0+2; Nov. 5, 0+2), tied for the most among rookie skaters in 2022-23.
• Power currently ranks second among all NHL defensemen in primary assists (8) this season.
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 11/25 games)
• Buffalo Sabres: 75 GF (4th), 3.75 GF/GP (3rd), 26.3 PP% (7th),
• Rasmus Asplund: 1 SHG (T-6th)
• Rasmus Dahlin: 26:06 TOI/GP (3rd), 12 PPP (T-8th)
• Casey Mittelstadt: 1 SHG (T-6th)
• Victor Olofsson: 1 OTG (T-3rd)
• Tage Thompson: 13 G (T-4th), 5 PPG (T-9th), 1 SHG (T-6th), 94 S (4th)
• Alex Tuch: 4 GWG (1st)
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Thompson (94), Dahlin (67), Skinner (60)
Hits: Dahlin (34), Lyubushkin (29), Cozens/Samuelsson (19)
Blocked Shots: Dahlin (37), Bryson (31), Lyubushkin (25)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 7-3-0 (14), 43/28, 9/38, 25/32
11-20: 2-8-0 (4), 32/42, 12/42, 23/34
OVERTIME RESULTS (1-0; 131-146 all-time)
Oct. 29 vs. CHI: W, 4-3 (GWG-Olofsson)
Buffalo Sabres: Media Notes
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-0; 84-77 all-time)
N/A
