Sabres notebook
Miller says official used profanity
At the end of a routine 5 1/2-minute session with reporters Tuesday in the Amherst Pepsi Center, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller dropped a bit of a bombshell: The Sabres’ bench minor in the second period Monday at Pittsburgh may have been the outgrowth of a referee’s profanity-laced outburst at Miller during a stoppage in play.
The Sabres had plenty of problems with calls in the game as they dealt with nine minor penalties and a trio of two-man advantages. One was for the full two minutes as Buffalo got the bench minor in protest of an interference call on Thomas Vanek.
Miller went so far Tuesday as to refer to it as a “slanted officiating job.” Near the end of practice, Miller and coach Lindy Ruff were chatting on the ice and reporters inquired about the talk.
“It was just about the referee, a brief conversation I had with the ref that was a little surprising to me,” Miller said. “He told me to ‘go [bleep] myself’ because I was just asking a question. I was just kind of joking around [to Ruff], saying, ‘Maybe that kind of started what got the bench minor going.’
“To be honest, I was respectful. I asked him a question and he told me maybe I should ‘go [bleep] myself.’ ”
Tim Peel and Justin St. Pierre were the referees. Asked which referee it was, Miller responded, “I’m not going to get into it” and Sabres spokesman Chris Bandura ended the session.
A review of the Versus game tape, however, shows Peel having an animated discussion with Miller with 16:11 left in the second period, about seven minutes prior to the bench minor. 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.
Ruff had already spoken to reporters by the time Miller’s situation came to light. A call and message left for NHL Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom was not returned.
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Since Nov. 26, the Sabres lead the league in penalty killing at 96.9 percent, killing 31 of 32 chances. They had gone 25 straight until Kris Letang’s second- period goal Monday.
Prior to Letang’s goal, Mark Streit’s meaningless empty-netter with two seconds left in the Nov. 22 loss to the New York Islanders was the last power-play tally against Buffalo.
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When Vanek scored his 20th goal Monday night, he joined Danny Gare as the only players in team history to become the first NHLer to reach 20 in a given season. Gare did it in 1975-76 en route to a 50-goal campaign in his second season.
Vanek got his 20th goal in the season’s 27th game, three shy of Rick Martin’s franchise record of 24 games in 1972. Vanek didn’t hit 20 last year until the 56th game, Feb. 12 at Ottawa. In his career-high 43-goal campaign in 2006-07, he got his 20th on Dec. 28 in the season’s 37th game.
In the 2008 calendar year, Vanek’s 45 goals are second in the NHL to the 49 scored by Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin.
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Patrick Kaleta (neck) skated with the team, and Ruff said Kaleta is improving even though he remains on injured reserve. Andrew Peters (abdominal) also skated while Tim Connolly (rib) is skating on his own but has not returned to practice. Paul Gaustad sat out the workout with what Ruff termed as “soreness” after the Pittsburgh game.
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Portland forward Tim Kennedy, the South Buffalo native, leads AHL rookies with 26 points (five goals, 21 assists). Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Funk has been sidelined for the second time this year at Portland with a concussion.
Funk is out indefinitely after getting cross-checked from behind Saturday by Lowell defenseman Anssi Salmela, who was given a three-game suspension by the AHL for the hit Tuesday.
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The Sabres will hold a winter clothing drive at their next four home games. Fans can bring new or slightly used winter apparel to the Arena entrance. Cash will also be accepted. Proceeds benefit the City Mission.
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