Sabres' Miller leads effort to halt skid
Published: February 09, 2010, 8:13 am
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Ryan Miller has spent four months at the top of his game and it's no coincidence the Buffalo Sabres ascended to the top of the Northeast Division.
But things have slipped for Miller and his team in the last week with a season-high four-game losing streak. Miller was in goal for three of those games, losing to Pittsburgh, Ottawa and Carolina.
Now, a week before he heads for Vancouver with the hopes of the United States Olympic Team on his shoulders, Miller hopes to help his primary home squad turn around their fortunes tonight when the Boston Bruins visit HSBC Arena.
"I've had games where I've made mistakes and had shutouts this year. I've had some games where I've made mistakes and they've burned me," Miller said Monday. "I'm going to take it as they come, take it in stride and just go out and repeat. Everything evens out toward the end of the year. It feels big at the time.
"The big part of it is if you let things start to creep into your head, get uneasy and start to lose confidence as a team. That's exactly the wrong way to think. You have to believe that what you're doing is the right thing. You have to trust you have a good system in place."
Ryan Miller addresses the media
Miller has lost all three of his February starts, allowing 12 goals while posting a goals-against average of 4.07 and save percentage of .874. Those are huge drops from his season numbers of 2.16 and .931 but how can anyone possibly indict him for a small blip?
"Our play as a team falls into the category of everybody needs to be better," said coach Lindy Ruff. "That includes our veteran players, our younger players, our goaltenders. This has been a group effort where we've gone through a tough stretch where we haven't been quite good enough."
The Sabres' play started to slip on their Western road trip and they're 2-7-1 in their last 10.
"We've had some games this year where we haven't been very good and we've won," Miller said. "And we've had a few games in this stretch even where I thought we've been really good and haven't got rewarded for some of our play."
Things disintegrated, however, over the weekend as Buffalo lost to weaklings Carolina and Columbus. Backup Patrick Lalime gave up a fluke goal from center ice against Columbus and Miller whiffed on Jussi Jokinen's unscreened 30-footer with 3:17 left that gave the Hurricanes their 4-3 win.
"Last game, you know, ole. That was not a great goal," Miller admitted on the Jokinen tally. "I can really look back on very few amount of games where I felt like I haven't felt good out there. In the last three games, I actually felt very good against Pittsburgh. You get scored on and things happen around you where you could make a better play on and they just end up in the net."
The compressed schedule has limited practice time but Miller and backup Patrick Lalime got an extra 25 minutes of goalie-specific work in Monday, something they've been unable to do the last couple weeks.
Miller's time has been even tighter, as he has been crushed with media requests regarding his Olympic role in the last few weeks and has been the subject of several photo shoots. Miller admitted he's been surprised at all the logistics that go into being on the Olympic team.
"If I have one more flag near me or draped around me that's not at the [medals] podium ceremony, I'm going to lose it," joked a smiling Miller. "All the hype that goes with it, I have a new respect for the Olympians that are on NBC all the time. They basically pump it up as the hope of the nation.
"It's tough enough being in Buffalo and being a goaltender here. With the kind of hype they're spinning on to it, it becomes a little distracting. But that's what people want. ... that's honestly part of the excitement."
Miller's Olympic debut is a week from today against Switzerland but he's not worried about that trip yet.
"I have obligations and I said from the beginning I was going to do what's necessary for the Buffalo Sabres," Miller said. "That was going to get me to the Olympics and get me in a position where I can be at the top of my game and ready to go. Getting that goaltending practice in today is good for the Sabres and it's good for USA Hockey."
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