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Sharks get blanked by Sabres’ Ryan Miller |
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The Sharks now know how the Flyers felt after last because they were dealt the same faith tonight as they couldn’t solve Ryan Miller in a 1-0 loss.
The goaltending battle tonight saw Antti Niemi versus Buffalo’s Ryan Miller. Miller played last night in Anaheim and was victorious. Both goalies came into tonight’s game after a shut-out in their previous outings. Miller kept the Ducks off the board in a 2-0 win while Niemi stumped the Flyers from Philadelphia in a 1-0 tightly fought battle.
Miller and Niemi picked up where they left off as both played good games but the story tonight was Miller stopping all 39 shots he faced including 17 in the third period.
Niemi’s shut-out bid was broken in the first period on an odd man rush after Brent Burns turned the puck over with an errant pass. The Sabres came back the other way on an odd man rush and Drew Stafford beat Niemi high to the blocker side.
This was a game where the Sharks played fairly well and can’t beat themselves up too much for the loss. If they continue to bring the same energy with some more desperation they will come out on top of in future battles.
Ryane Clowe was optimistic about the team’s efforts “One thing I liked tonight about our game was that we weren’t frustrated and we kept it positive. We felt like we were going to win, actually. We got to him the way we wanted to as far as getting to the net and crashing goes.”
The Sharks celebrated their 100th consecutive sell-out crowd at the HP Pavilion tonight. The Shark Tank as it is also known as has a reputation as one of the more difficult rinks to play in for the visiting team and the 17, 562 that have filled the arena for the last hundred games can take some pride in that.
Tonight’s game was another defensive battle against a team whose best player is their goalie. Ryan Miller made some stellar saves tonight and appears to be rebounding from what has been one of his worst years as a Sabre. Miller was the U.S Olympic goalie who took his team to overtime in the gold medal game in 2010 in Vancouver.
The Sharks had a tough time maintaining pressure in the offensive zone until the third period when they put the foot down and had the crowd on their feet with multiple scoring opportunities. They would have done better by getting more traffic in front Miller throughout the entire game as opposed to just the third period.
Joe Thornton spoke about trying to beat Miller after the game “Miller is a world class goalie and whatever he sees he stops and I don’t think we had enough traffic in front of him tonight.”
The coaching staff put Patrick Marleau back on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski for the third period. This line was awesome in the final frame and were responsible for creating most of the scoring chances. Each time they took the ice along with Dan Boyle and Brent Burns on the point they dominated the offensive zone like they were playing with the man advantage.
This was the second time in a row that the Sabres have shut-out the Sharks and it was Ryan Miller’s second time in as many nights that he has stumped the opposition’s offense. Good thing they aren’t in the same division.
The best chance to bulge the twine for the Sharks came in the second period when Daniel Winnik didn’t appear ready to take a pass in the slot because the puck bounced off his stick when he was all alone in front of the net.
Scoring details
1st Period
BUF – 18:51 –EV – 21 D.Stafford(13) – assist – 63 T.Ennis(8)
2nd Period
No scoring
3rd Period
No scoring
The turning point tonight was when Lindy Ruff decided to start Miller for the second night in a row. He was stellar tonight and the Sharks threw everything at him but came up short.
Contenders & Pretenders
Contenders
Ryan Miller – is adept at shutting down the opposition and tonight he had the Sharks number. He was clearly the first contender.
The Sabres team defense – was good enough to win and good enough to make the contenders list. Miller was able to see most of the shots so his mates deserve to be mentioned.
Sharks coaching staff – tonight consisted of Matt Shaw and Jay Woodcroft and I liked the way they put the top line back together for the third period as well they put Burns and Boyle together which we haven’t seen much of this year but the pairing was effective in creating opportunities.
Pretenders
The Sharks power play – only had two chances to score tonight but was needed to capitalize and were too cute with their opportunities. They are the game’s first pretender tonight.
Brent Burns – had a strong game other than his errant pass that led to the only goal of the game. Sometimes one mistake is all it takes for that Burns is a pretender tonight.
The Sharks will have to find some offense as the stingy St. Louis Blues come to town for a Saturday night rendezvous.
Keep your sticks on the ice,
Cam Gore
San Jose Sharks Blogger • 
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