Ryan Miller made quite a name for himself during the NHL lockout. The now-legendary verbal tirade that he leveled at Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs served as one of many galvanizing moments for the players in their 113 day long conflict with the owners. Miller knew his role in those negotiations, as he was only one of the 750 soldiers in the fight. He saw an opportunity to move the process forward, so he took full control of the moment. That’s exactly what Miller has done for the eight seasons that he has been the leader of the Buffalo Sabres. Miller acts and thinks out loud. He doesn’t murmur under his breath or hold the thought to himself. He speaks up. He challenges the status quo.
He’s a leader. He knows how to motivate his team mates.
He did so Sunday afternoon in Buffalo against the Flyers. He did it again on Monday night in Toronto.
Ryan Miller is taking a stand for the Buffalo Sabres.
He’s 2-0, with a 1.50 GAA and a .953 save percentage.
Miller took control of Monday night's game by single-handedly killing off a 5-on-3 PP late in the first period. He frustrated Kessel, Kadri, and the Leafs with a series of saves. In the game’s first 58 minutes, Miller’s brilliance made the Buffalo 2-0 advantage appear to be even larger than that, more like a 4-0 lead.
Then, in the frantic final two minutes and 33 seconds, with Scrivens on the bench for the extra attacker, Miller ruined the Leafs home opener by tormenting the Leafs with his own unique brand of grace under pressure. Even after Lupul’s punching of the puck into the Buffalo net, I got the sense from Miller’s body language that he wasn’t fazed one iota. He seemed to project the supremely confident attitude of :
”It’s OK, boys. I got this. Let’s take these two points back down the QEW to Buffalo”.
Starting the 48 game NHL season with back-to-back games wasn’t easy for the Sabres. The Flyers and Leafs wanted to beat Miller. In the end, they couldn’t. His 27 saves on Sunday to beat the Flyers were sensational. The 34 saves in the win over the Maple Leafs were terrific.
Videos courtesy, Sabres.com
Jason Pominville smiles when he thinks of Miller's strong play in his first two games of this abbreviated season
Miller. Leader.
** Mikhail Grigorenko is making it tough for Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier to look him in the eyes after he’s played five NHL games, and tell him that he’s being sent back to Quebec City.
Forget about his lack of goals and assists. That’s not what he’s focused on right now. Grigorenko is concentrating on the defensive-side of the puck, and he is succeeding at it.
Grigo is an eighteen year kid, fresh out of juniors, looking to make a lasting first impression with his the Sabres. He’s playing a simple game right now, because that’s exactly what the doctor has ordered.
On Sunday against Philly, Grigo skated 11:13 of TOI. He won 55.6% of his draws. He moved his feet through all three zones, and he defended very well for a kid straight out of The QMJHL. What’s more, Grigo moved pucks well to his wingers, Ott and Hecht, and he kept each one of his 17 his shifts short.
On Monday night in Toronto, more of the same. He skated 13:00 of TOI. Again, each one of his 15 shifts were short and he added value every time he jumped the boards onto the ice. He won 57% of his draws and he kept his zone clean. He finished checks and distributed the puck with excellent dexterity. He played solid defense in all three zones by moving his feet to get to loose pucks. He seems to have an uncanny knack for tying up opponent’s sticks and for winning wall battles.
He’s made a mistake or two because he supposed to.
Did he flub an eight foot D-zone pass to Robyn Regehr that resulted in a lost opportunity to clear the zone and to get a five man line change? Yes, he did. That’s not the worst mistake an 18 year old can make, is it? That s what teenagers are supposed to do in their second NHL games.
Grigo told me Sunday after the win over Philly that Buffalo is the only place that he wants to play hockey. “I’ll do whatever the coaches and my team mates ask me to do”, he said. The kid belongs in the NHL right now. These past two games have opened his eyes to the rigors of the pro game. He’s learning valuable hockey life lessons, on the fly. The short rest, fast shifts, accountability to the team first, taking care of the body and mind. He’s surrounded by positive reinforcement right now, and he’s having success. The goals and assists will come in future shifts. For now, Ruff and Regier are heartened by the contributions that the kid is making for the team.
His offensive outburst is only a game away. Imagine how a goal and a couple of assists will augment his meaningful defensive contributions to his team. If Ott buries Grigo’s beauty pass to the back door on Sunday afternoon, I think people would be thinking differently about the kid right now. The good thing about this great game is that the next shift in Carolina may be the one where he erupts for his first NHL goal against Cam Ward. I like the kid’s chances of sticking and staying in Buffalo because I love what I’ve seen of him thus far.
Do I see Ruff and Regier sending Grigorenko back to the Quebec Remparts after five games?
No. I don’t.
Ruff has given the team the day off today, after a successful 2-0 start to the season. The team will rest and recover, then they depart for Raleigh on Wednesday, where they play a home and home with the Hurricanes Thursday and Friday.
**
Expect Jhonas Enroth to start one of the two games vs. Carolina.
**
You think Lindy Ruff is pleased with the performance of his power trio of Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville in the first two games of the season?
You better believe he is!
The Sabres’ top production line is on fire right now, having scored 13 points after two games. What’s more telling is that the line is +9 in the first two games. They are scoring at-will, however, they are not being scored against while playing five on five. The line is on pace to score 312 points this season (48 games X 6.5 points per game). Stupid video game offensive juggernaut! That’ll never happen, but you never know, right?
The trio have fired 25 shots on Bryzgalov and Scrivens.
The more you shoot, the more you score.
That’s how dominant Buffalo’s first line has performed so far this season.
Vanek already has 2 goals and 4 assists (+3).
Hodgson has 2 goals (+4).
Pominville has a goal and 4 assists (+2).
The success of this line can be directly traced back to the final month of last season when they started playing together during the Sabres playoff push. Though the team came up short in the end, Ruff was able to get a good look at his future to six with 26-19-29 playing so well, and 82-63-29 dominating the final 20 games of last season. During the lockout, Ruff knew what side his bread was buttered on, in terms of his top line.
What makes this top scoring line all the more impressive is that each and every member played meaningful hockey during the NHL lockout. Vanek played 11 games in his hometown of Graz, Austria. He scored five goals and added 10 assists. Pominville played six games in Mannheim, Germany and collected 12 points. Hodgson played superbly in 19 games in Rochester and generated a point a game (5 goals, 14 assists). He’d have scored more had it not been for the broken bone in his right wrist that he suffered in late October that caused him to miss five weeks while he recovered.
Ask Vanek, and he’ll tell you that he and his linies are not breaking their arms patting themselves on the back.
He prefers to look forward, not back. In the NHL, you are only as good as your last shift.
Hodgson told the Buffalo News after the win in Toronto that he just trying to find a way to fit in with Vanek and Pominville .
“They’re pretty amazing players,” Hodgson said. “I just drive the net and let them do their thing. They’re always looking for plays. They’re real creative, have so much speed and talent and I’m just trying to fit in with them.”
For 58 minutes, the Sabres played a great road game.
The final 2 minutes were like a white knuckle ride down the QEW on a snowy night.
Miller held the fort, making 34 saves for his second win of the young season.
The Leafs failed to score on a critical 5 on 3 PP in the first period. They had nearly two minutes of man advantage time to try to beat Ryan Miller. Nothing doing. Miller was Buffalo's best PKer on this night and the chances were few and far between.
The Sabres are now 2-0. They head back to Buffalo to prepare for their home and ghome with Carolina later this week.
The Sabres hit.
They chirped, stood up for one another, and fought tooth an nail.
Thanks, Leafs TV
These Sabres are not shy about finishing checks and agitating opponents. They have initiated physicality and fights in their first two games. Stafford made Hartnell pay for running Pominville and Ennis from behind. On Monday night, Phil Kessel wrecked Ryan Miller and was promptly clubbed in the back of the head with four Pat Kaleta rabbit punches.
Hodgson and Pominvile gave the Sabres a nice cushion.
They protected the puck and played their system to a tee. Not a lot of rush opportunities for either teams.
Hodgson scored his second goal in as many days, by drive the blue paint looking for some puck luck. Christian Ehrhoff’s point blast penetrated a mass of humanity, struck Hodgson's ribs and found its way behind Scrivens.
Wasn't pretty, just effective.
Jason Pominville made it 2-0 early in the second, when he hopped on an odd-man rush. Pommer blasted a laser through Scrivens for the two goal lead.
Two goals shut the Toronto crowd down, and made the ACC a quiet building to play in.
The Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville line struk for nine points on Sunday vs. Philly. On Monday, they added another four points to the impressive point production total.
Things got hairy after the Leafs cut the lead to 2-1 in the game's dying moments.
Lupul clearly punched a puck into the net and it was immediately disallowed by the referee.
The Sabres has have three goals against disallowed in the first two games.
On this night, the hawkey gods smiled upon Ryan Miller and the Sabres,
If Buffalo, NY had its own paper currency, Steve Ott's face would be on today.
Otter earned himself the Carrubba Collision of the game in Sunday's 5-2 beat down of the Flyers. He scored his first goal as a Sabres, delivered five hits , and made life miserable for the Flyers. He delivered 7 hits, and won another Carrubba Collision in the Toronto game.
Otter is infusing a ton of snarl, pugilism and mischief into the Sabres brand.
He's a Son Of Anarchy!
In Toronto on Monday, Ott told Pierre LeBrun that he knows his role in Buffalo.
"For me personally, I want to bring sandpaper and compete to our team," he said. "You try to drag other guys into battle. By going out there and playing hard, you hope that other guys follow. It works like a chain reaction."
It won’t take fans long in Toronto, Boston, Montreal and Ottawa to find out Ott is now a Sabre. He will aggravate the entire Northeast Division and make opposing star players aware of his presence as well.
"For my myself, there’s nothing better than competing against the top-end guys," said Ott. "Some people may say it’s unfair to run the top-end guys, but you know what? It’s the NHL and nothing is fair and nothing is easy. You have to make it hard on them. If you don’t play them tight and hard, they’ll make you look silly in a hurry."
If you watched Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday night, you were treated to this wonderfully produced segment called "Footsteps". Tim Thompson captured the emotion and passion for the greatest game on the face of the Earth. The moving piece was voiced by Dave Bidini, the multi-talented singer, songwriter, journalist, broadcastyer, lover of hockey.
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