As befitting a club that boasts perhaps the NHL’s sharpest goalie in Ryan Miller, the Sabres gave up only 2.45 goals per game in 2009-10, fourth-fewest in the NHL. But while Miller is considered Buffalo’s go-to gun (he is a candidate to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP), the Sabres’ wave-after-wave attack potted 2.82 goals per game, the fourth-highest clip in the Eastern Conference.
Balance, after all, is what general manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff have tried to achieve.
“I see a team that’s undergone a bit of transformation the last few years,’’ said Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli yesterday. “They’ve added more speed up front. You see that in their forecheck and neutral-zone play. Obviously their goalie is a terrific goalie. He’s very hard to beat. We’ve played them well. There’s a defensive element to their game that’s inherent in Lindy’s system and the way Darcy builds his team. It’s not the same type of components, but it’s an emphasis on our team also. From a matchup perspective, you’re going to see some tight defense.’’
Of the East’s top three clubs, Buffalo was the Bruins’ best matchup. Washington’s offensive firepower could have overwhelmed the Bruins. New Jersey, backstopped by Martin Brodeur, could have throttled the Bruins’ 30th-ranked offense and counterpunched with Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Jamie Langenbrunner.
The Bruins went 4-2-0 against the Sabres (two victories came with spare parts Jhonas Enroth and Patrick Lalime in goal), with Tuukka Rask appearing in all six games, posting a 4-1-0 record with a 1.43 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage.
The Sabres, however, will be anything but pushovers.
“It’s going to be a hard game,’’ Chiarelli said. “They compete hard. They’ve got a goal scorer in [Thomas] Vanek who seems to have found his mark this last little bit. I don’t know if they’re getting a couple of their injured guys back. They’ve got some pretty skilled forwards up front. If we forecheck the way we’re capable of doing, I think it will be a good series.’’
Buffalo’s brightest star is Miller, who went 41-18-8 with a 2.22 GAA and a .929 save percentage in 68 starts. The 29-year-old Olympic star went 2-0-2 with a 1.71 GAA and a .947 save percentage against the Bruins this season. Ruff sat Miller for two of Buffalo’s last three regular-season games, resting him for the playoffs.
Miller plays behind a defense, led by Rookie of the Year candidate Tyler Myers (11-37—48, 23:44 of ice time per game), that emphasizes mobility, puck retrieval, and gumming up the middle of the defensive zone. All of Buffalo’s defensemen are considered healthy.
