Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said today he was surprised when Ryan Miller told him that referee Tim Peel swore at the Buffalo goaltender during Monday night's game in Pittsburgh.

"That would be unusual," Ruff said following today's morning skate. "The referees 99 percent of the time show a lot of class and they're under a lot of duress. They take a lot of abuse, even to a point where they give players a lot of room.

"If this is just that rare occasion, it's a rare occasion that happened. For the most part, they keep a great handle on it because they take the majority of abuse in the games."

Calls for comment to Stephen Walkom, the NHL's officiating supervisor, have not been returned.

"There is no Ryan Miller situation," Frank Brown, the NHL's vice president of communications, said in an e-mail to The Buffalo News today.

Miller told Ruff about the incident near the end of practice Tuesday in the Amherst Pepsi Center and wouldn't say afterward which official swore at him. But a review of the game tape shows Peel having an animated discussion with Miller with 16:11 left in the second period, about seven minutes prior to a bench minor called on Ruff.

There's a faceoff in the Buffalo end with 16:13 left, Miller points to something in the circle and Peel whistles the play dead almost immediately and skates directly to the Buffalo goaltender. Peel is clearly gesturing at Miller with his left hand before the camera shot cuts away.

"I skated by later and I had no idea what was going on with that," said winger Daniel Paille. "I actually asked what happened with that and he said, "Pie-Zie, don't worry about it, just get back in the faceoff."

Captain Craig Rivet was the closest player to Miller and Peel. Rivet didn't specifically address the situation but said whatever happened was probably a heat-of-the-moment incident.

"Referees have an extremely difficult job. Anyone who says they don't is absolutely crazy," Rivet said. "It's almost like they're out there playing against two teams and 20,000 fans every night. It's an extremely hard job. Not every night they'll be on their game and make the right decision but they're doing their best. Officiating is something each team just has to fight through from time to time."