Sabres notebook: Miller loses league leads
Published: November 18, 2009, 11:16 pm
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Even though he gave up a season-high five goals, there's not much blame that can be passed goaltender Ryan Miller's way in the wake of the Buffalo Sabres' 6-2 loss Wednesday to Florida in HSBC Arena.
Tip-ins, tap-ins and odd-man rushes were the order of the night for the Panthers to post their season-high output in regulation. Miller's main area of frustration centered around the go-ahead goal by Stephen Weiss that snapped a 1-1 tie 81 seconds into the second period and put the visitors up for good.
Michael Frolik skipped past Steve Montador to get into the slot and unleashed a hard snap shot that Miller stopped but was unable to corral with his glove. As the puck landed near his feet, Miller tried to sweep it away with his stick. Instead, he swept it right to Weiss at the edge of the crease and the Panthers' center easily converted an open net.
"I was just trying to get rid of it and cause some chaos and it hits him," Miller said. "He just taps it right before the goal line perfectly. Nice play by him I guess. Good hands."
Sure was.
"The first guy [Frolik] cut to the slot and made a really nice shot," Miller said. "That was a tough save to make, cut back against the grain and shot it really hard. He's a great skater with great hands, had a lot of time to cut across the middle and get a shot. He went back against the grain and I tried fighting it off. It hit my cuff and didn't stay close. Not much you can do about it."
The five goals dropped Miller out of the top spot in the NHL in both goals-against average (now 1.97) and save percentage (.931). He's now second to Tampa Bay's Antero Nittymaki in both categories.
Like everyone in the building, Miller sensed the Sabres getting momentum when Clark MacArthur's goal with 5:43 left cut the deficit to 3-2. But Patrick Kaleta took an interference penalty with 2:19 left and the Panthers got a power-play goal 17 seconds later from Frolik that essentially ended the suspense.
"It was one of those nights where everything we seemed to do kind of went against us," Miller said. "Patty has a guy staring right at him and I'd call that a puck battle in my opinion."
Toni Lydman sat out his 11th straight game due to a groin injury but for the first time was a healthy scratch. Ruff simply opted not to break up the lineup that had won all three games last weekend.
That meant Lydman joined Nathan Paetsch in the press box along with Mike Grier. The veteran winger missed his second straight game, also with a groin problem.
Ruff, however, had a positive pregame report on Grier even though Grier did not take part in the morning skate. The coach said that was not a sign his condition has worsened.
"He's actually doing pretty good," Ruff said. "We just decided to give him a day off because he's been skating fairly hard. He's kind of at that stage where it isn't getting any better but it hasn't gotten any worse."
Center Tim Kennedy played just two shifts in the second period and finished with season-low ice time of 9 minutes, 21 seconds. Ruff went to three lines over much of the second and third period, limiting time for fourth-liners Matt Ellis and Adam Mair and also cutting into the time of Kennedy and MacArthur (12:11) among others.
"We had a couple guys who maybe stood out," Ruff said. "But [lackluster play] was a pretty good team effort when it came right down to it."
Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier will be the guest on today's Internet and satellite radio edition of "NHL Hour" with Commissioner Gary Bettman. It will air from 3-4 p.m. on NHL.com, XM channel 204 and Sirius 208. Fans can call in questions at 1-877-645-6696.
A large rigging apparatus hanging from the ceiling near the Zamboni end of the arena was for tonight's Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The Sabres responded to complaints from fans who said it was blocking their views of the HD board and game clock by offering a complimentary $66 ticket to tonight's show or concession items during the game.
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