COMMENTARY
Miller’s growth is stunted
When Ryan Miller signed a five-year, $31.25 million extension during the offseason, his bank account soared. So did expectations. Miller was being paid like an elite NHL goalie, and now it was time for him to perform like one.
He hasn’t. Miller has been good at times, spectacular at others. But it’s hard to dispute the numbers, which suggest that Miller has been essentially the same player he was in his first three full seasons in Buffalo.
Heading into Wednesday’s 4-2 home victory over the Lightning, Miller had a 2.56 goals-against average. There were 18 goalies in the league with at least 10 games played and a lower goals-against. His save percentage was .909, almost identical to his career figure of .908.
He’s right back in the middle of the goalie pack. Miller has been slightly above average, just like the Sabres. The goalie and his team reflect one another, alternating flashes of greatness with confounding stretches of mediocrity.
Some nights, Miller appears ready to move into the elite. He had 26 saves against Tampa, including back-to-back stops on breakaways with the Sabres behind early in the second period. Miller has now won three in a row and been terrific in the last two.
We’ve been here before, though. Miller was on a roll at the start of the season, and posted back-to-back shutouts to begin the month of November. He had a 3.65 goals-against and a .872 save percentage the rest of the month.
As Thomas Vanek discovered last year, with big bucks comes a higher standard. It’s only fair.
“Yeah, I think it’s fair,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think Ryan holds himself to a higher standard, so I think that’s fair.”
Ruff seemed to be holding his goalie to a higher standard after last week’s Florida game, which the Sabres lost, 2-1. Ruff was critical of Miller, saying the Sabres “have to get the big saves” and that Miller made a poor read on Florida’s first goal.
Miller didn’t care for the criticism. Ruff later claimed his comments were “misconstrued” and took issue with a News reporter. But there was no way to misconstrue what he said on tape.
It was a curious reaction on Ruff’s part. He’s a straight shooter and rarely says anything that doesn’t have a purpose. I suspect Miller reacted badly and Ruff decided to back off later.
Well, he’d better get used to it. Miller gets a lot of slack in this town. He’d have it a lot tougher in Detroit, Toronto or New York, where the criticism can be relentless and withering.
Sure, the Sabres are guilty of some brutal defensive lapses. Miller talks about his teammates’ needing to stay within the system and be responsible in the defensive end. But you can’t tell me his support is significantly worse than the average NHL goalie.
Miller gave up two early goals to the Lightning, including a bad one when he failed to cover a puck in his crease. But he was perfect from then on. He made a sensational glove save on Vincent Lecavalier from point-blank range with 9:02 to play to preserve a 3-2 lead.
“That was a huge save,” Ruff said. “We got some big ones out of him.”
Maybe it’s a sign that Miller is ready to go on one of his periodic hot streaks.
“You can’t predict them,” Miller said. “It depends on a lot of variables. I’m working hard. Even during the stretch where we weren’t winning, I thought I was playing decent hockey, not terrible.”
Miller needs to be better. He needs to be the Sabres’ best player on a more consistent basis. If they’re going to be better than average and get back into the playoffs, it starts with the guy between the pipes.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments
Learn more about our moderation system.