On Miller and the standings
Ryan Miller told me at practice Saturday that the next statement in his career is to play 70 games and carry his team into the playoffs. The franchise record is 72 games (Dominik Hasek, Martin Biron and Don Edwards) and Miller looks like he's going to end up in the range of 76 or 77.
I didn't have too much problem with Miller's game Friday. Seriously, how many odd-man rushes were the Sabres going to give up to Montreal? Miller has been pretty good for the last six weeks but I'd still like to see him stop giving up the odd bad goal here or there. He seems to be going down a lot too. At 6-foot-2, I'd like to see him a little more upright.
Don't get me started on Miller's play in shootouts this year but check out this nugget: When he stopped Nashville's Scott Nichol on a penalty shot Wednesday, it was Miller's seventh straight save in those situations. He's just three shy of the record of 10 that's currently's running for Dallas' Marty Turco. How about translating some of that to the shootout??!!
By the way, the Sabres slipped into ninth place in the East after Philadelphia's 4-1 win over the Islanders Saturday. The Sabres have no one to thank but themselves for the Flyers' resurgence. Philly has won three straight after its 10-game winless streak, a run that began with Monday's comeback in Buffalo. If Buffalo had kept the pedal to the metal in that one and turned its 3-0 lead into a blowout, the Flyers might have been making a coaching change.
Detroit, Philly and Washington coming in a four-day stretch. This has been one hectic schedule. We need to see the Miller we saw during the Sabres' 10-game unbeaten streak come back
---Mike Harrington
