PITTSBURGH — Ryan Miller, who carried the United States to a silver medal during an

intense Olympic tournament, deserves a rest. Patrick Lalime is happy to give it to him.

Lalime will start in goal for the Buffalo Sabres tonight when they visit the Pittsburgh

Penguins. Miller and coach Lindy Ruff, who was an assistant for the gold medal-winning

Canadians, were scheduled to fly from Vancouver to Pittsburgh to meet their team. Ruff will be

behind the bench in Mellon Arena, while Miller will be on it.

"I'm playing [tonight] and looking forward to it," Lalime said. "I think he deserves the

rest."

Indeed, Miller will need time to decompress after Sunday's 3-2 overtime loss to Canada.

Lalime, meanwhile, is eager to resume the NHL schedule after sitting on the sidelines with his

non-Olympic teammates since Feb. 13.

"I feel good," Lalime said Monday after practice in HSBC Arena. "It's nice to come back

actually when you have a couple days off. You're nice and excited to see the guys again, go on

the ice and get some work done. I'm looking forward to getting the show started again."

The game will be Lalime's third appearance against the Penguins this season. He is 1-0-1

with a 0.58 goals-against average and .980 save percentage against the defending Stanley Cup

champions.

Though Miller likely would welcome the challenge, sitting allows him to avoid a close-up

with Sidney Crosby. The Penguins' captain scored the overtime winner against Miller and likely

will be recognized before the game.

"We expect a very loud building," Lalime said. "They're probably going to do something

about the gold medal and everything, but for us it doesn't change anything. We've just got to

focus on our job and play what we call an ugly road game, play our game and silence the

crowd."

Pittsburgh fans will no doubt embrace Crosby's return, but Penguins coach Dan Bylsma

assumes the residents will honor their fellow Americans, too.

"I am not going to be surprised when they give a standing ovation to Sid," Bylsma said. "I

am not going to be surprised when they give a standing ovation to [Penguins and Team USA

defenseman] Brooks Orpik. I would almost expect them to be giving one to Ryan Miller. I would

if I was an American fan in the stands."

. . .

Members of all three medal-winning teams will be present tonight. Sabres defenseman Toni

Lydman won a bronze with Finland four years after taking silver. Even though the second-place

silver means his team did better in 2006 than 2010, he was happier leaving the Games this time

after winning the third-place game.

"We lost that gold-medal game and felt way worse than winning the bronze medal this time,

so it's kind of weird," Lydman said. "But that's how it goes: You win that last game, you feel

so much better about yourself than losing."

The Finns responded to beat Slovakia, 5-3, after suffering a 6-1 blowout against the United

States in the semifinals.

"I thought it was a real test of character to find the strength for that bronze-medal game,

and it was worth it," said Lydman, who joked he couldn't comment on Miller's performance. "I

didn't get to see him much. We were spending a whole lot of time in our own end."

. . .

The Sabres said Monday that broadcaster Mike Robitaille, who underwent spinal cord surgery

last month, is not ready to return to the team's telecast. ... Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin

has a 13-game points streak, scoring eight times with 14 assists. Crosby has 12 goals in his

last 12 games. ... Unless the teams meet in the playoffs, this is Buffalo's final visit to

Mellon Arena. The Penguins move into a new building across the street next season. "For me

personally, there's some good memories," said Lalime, a former Penguin. "That's where I

started in the NHL. It's an old building, but a lot of good memories there. You've just got to

move on."