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Miller Left Hanging High & Dry |
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That was easy.
The Sabres showed up at 7:30 for a 7pm puck drop. Typical. Sleep walk for 20 minutes. play hard for 40 minutes. Another incomplete, erratic effort.
The Sabres scored have scored first in only one of their nine games this season.
I blame the players and the coaches for that. This is the youngest team in the NHL and they need to be taught how to start and finish games.
Roberto Luongo made 25 saves, and barely broke a sweat, for his 63rd career shutout in Buffalo on Thursday night. Think about that impressive stat: 63 career shutouts (36 in a Canucks sweater). Props to Bobby Lu. Not a bad effort at all for the goalie that the Canucks wanted a divorce from last season. Bygones.
Luongo may never have an easier shutout again in his career.
The Sabres allowed the Canucks to storm out of the gate and pepper Ryan Miller with pucks o'plenty in the first 20 minutes of play. Buffalo won their first game of the season on Tuesday night on Long Island by playing a gritty, heavy style. You would have neverknown that by watching the Sabres lay down and let the Canucks thrash them in their own end in the first two and a half minutes of the game. Buffalo took an early penalty and watched the Canucks light up Miller with rubber bullets. They successfully killed the penalty, however, Vancouver wresled all momentum away and they'd keep it for teh majority of the game.
The Sabres sat and gawked as their Vezina-caliber Miller made 10 saves in the first 2:40 of the first period. Miller was under siege but he kept his cool and he gave his team a chance to stay even with Luongo and the Canucks. In the second period, Sabres had 2 shots in 11:46 of play. At one point, they were out shot 26-9.
Chris Higgins, Brad Richardson and Ryan Stanton scored to extend their win streak to two games to start their seven-game road trip.
Ryan Miller made 31 saves on 34 shots for the Sabres in the loss.
After the game, disappointed Sabres center Cody Hodgson and former Canuck told me:
"Its all on us... we rely on Ryan Miller every night to save 30, 40 quality shots and you cant win that way"
Thanks, sabres.com
Thomas Vanek was at a loss for words after the terrible start to the game.
Thanks, sabres.com
Vancouver jumped out to a fast start on Thursday out-shooting Buffalo 19-7 in the opening period. Higgins made it 1-0.
Richardson scored short-handed in the second period.
Stanton's third period goal was the first of his NHL career.
At the beginning of the third period, trailing 2-0, Cody Hodgson darted down the left wing wall with Thomas Vanek on his right side. Hodgson through a hard, crisp, cross-ice pass to Vanek who waited for Luongo to go down in his butterfly. Vanek fired the puck high, and it appeared to enter the net.
The play was ruled a goal on the ice but video review showed the puck struck the crossbar and landed on the goal line but never went into the net.
After the disallowed goal, the ice tilted towards Vancouver's end of the rink when Stanton's goal made it 3-0.
In the end, Miller couldn't thwart the Vancouver puck-possession game by himself.
Miller's teammates left him hanging high and dry.
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Miller refused to speak with media after the loss. Perhaps he needed time to get his head together after such an upsetting loss in a game that he played so well. Perhaps he chose to decline commenting to a media horde that included many Canadian media outlets. Maybe he didn't want to answer questions about the Buffalo-Edmonton trade rumors that have taken on a life of their own in recent days.
If I was Miller, I would be considering all options right now, including learning more about the Edmonton opportunity. Miller has been Buffalo best player for the first three weeks of the season and all he has to show for it one win. Were I Miller, I'd be open-minded to finding a new team where the chance to win games and to make the playoffs is a possibility.
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