Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller will return to the net when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to HSBC Arena on Friday night, coach Lindy Ruff said today.

Mikael Tellqvist will be in goal for tonight's game against the Florida Panthers before Miller takes over Friday.

"The plan is to have him ready," Ruff said of Miller. "As long as things go well today and tomorrow, the plan is to have him ready for Friday."

The Sabres are 3-7-2 since Miller was hurt Feb. 21 against the New York Rangers. The Sabres won that game and were one point out of fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They're currently 10th and have slipped seven points out of the last playoff spot.

Miller has practiced fully the last three days and Thursday's workout should be the final tune-up he'll need.

"It's a big boost," Ruff said. "He surprised a few guys by his presence on Monday and the practice time on Tuesday was a lift for the team. It's tough to get by without your starting goaltender. You can miss key forwards, miss a defensemen but you look at Ryan's win-loss record and the team's record when he's in there and that all speaks for itself."

At the time of the injury, Miller was having the best season of his career. He's 29-16-5 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Patrick Lalime has started 11 of the 12 games Miller has missed, going 3-6-2 with a 3.03 GAA and .904 save percentage. Tonight

will be Tellqvist's second start.

The Sabres are 1-5-1 in their last seven games ... and are 0 for 19 on the power play in going 0-3-1 over the last four. They are five points behind the ninth-place Panthers in the standings. Florida is just 1-3-3 in its last seven games.

Adam Mair, Andrew Peters, Matt Ellis, Nathan Paetsch and Teppo Numminen will be Buffalo's scratches tonight.