Ryan Miller is playing like a man possessed in St. Louis.
Miller improved his St. Louis record to 4-0 with his dramatic 2-1 win in Denver on Saturday afternoon. Miller made 26 saves on 27 shots. He has allowed only 6 goals in his 4 starts with the Blues. He's only faced 90 shots in his 4 wins. Jaro Halak was right. Miller will see less rubber while playing with the Blues.
Miller made this monster save against Gabriel Landeskog with 6 minutes remaining in regulation after the Blues turned the puck over in their end. Landeskog was on his knees when he shot the puck off Miller's mask. Miller tracked the puck perfectly.
"When he fell to his knees I thought maybe he'd consider pushing it to a guy who was still up," said Miller. "He caught me in the eye right there. I was kind of fortunate he didn't pick a corner and he hit me. When he went down I was thinking pass and maybe I hesitated a little bit. Smart play by him to shoot it. Not really an attempted save."
Miller is 4-0-0 since arriving in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres a week ago Friday. He has allowed one goal in each of the past two games.
"It's been great to contribute," he said. "Things have really worked out in our favor. It's been good, a hard-working game, guys are playing honest hockey and they've gotten good results because of it."
Hitchcock is amazed by Miller.
"He just absorbs everything. He was good tonight. You need your goalie to win on the road. He absorbs all the shots. His whole disposition calms everyone down. There's a reason he's won so many games."
Miller now has a win against every team except the Buffalo Sabres.
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Buffalo accepted Klesla's contract to facilitate the deal for Halak. The Caps should re-numerate the Sabres for this stiff job.
Klesla had one goal and three assists with a -3 rating in 25 games with the Coyotes this season. He has 48 goals and 111 assists in 659 career games with the Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets, who selected him in the first round (# 4) of the 2000 NHL Draft.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out, bro.
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I was beginning to wonder if Rusty Klesla would ever report to Buffalo to accept his assignment to AHL Rochester. On Saturday night, the cat was let out of the bag.
Klesla is pulling the chute on the Sabres organoization and heading to Europe.
Klesla: ""With all due respect to the Sabres organization, I decided this week not to continue playing hockey this season"...
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) March 9, 2014Klesla was was trade to Buffalo along with Michal Neuvirth in exchange for Jaro Halak.
Klesla is headed back to Europe.
"It has been a tough year for injury and moving several times to new teams. I will now take some time off and get ready to continue my career in Europe. I would like to thank my fans and all the people that have helped me. I am grateful for the career I have had in the NHL and all the people that I have met along the way who have supported me and my family"
If I'm Tim Murray, I'm calling the NHL league offices demanding compensation in exchange for Klesla. Player or pick doesn't matter. Klesla quit on Buffalo before he reported.
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