After being steamrolled by the Red Wings on Friday night, the Sabres turned to Ryan Miller the next night as Buffalo made a visit to Nashville.
Miller had missed eight straight games due to a concussion suffered after being hit by Milan Lucic. He showed up tonight at the top of his game, dominating the Predators halfway through the game.
With just over four minutes to go in the second period, Jordin Tootoo ran Miller and the Sabres goaltender started throwing punches immediately. Paul Gaustad and the rest of the Sabres on the ice stuck up for their franchise goaltender after the collision.
Tootoo received a five minute major for charging, along with a game misconduct. There is no question that he will be hearing from Brendan Shanahan.
Luke Adam got the Sabres on the board midway through the opening period with his 9th goal of the season.
The Sabres caught a break as Anders Lindback received the start for Nashville instead of Pekka Rinne. Lindback finished the game allowing three goals on 14 shots.
Toward the end of the period, Zack Kassian found a way through the defense and on a breakaway, where he beat Lindback to put the Sabres up 2-0.
Craig Smith would ruin Miller’s shutout with a power play goal early in the third period, cutting the deficit in half.
Tyler Ennis scored his first goal of the season as he added an insurance goal late in the third, giving Buffalo a 3-1 lead.
The Predators never game up, and David Legwand buried Nashville’s second goal of the game with a minute and a half remaining in regulation.
The Sabres were unable to score in the empty net and there was heavy pressure applied by the Predators, but the score didn’t change from there on out.
Ryan Miller earned the win in his first game back as the Sabres defeated the Predators by a 3-2 score.
Ville Leino was a +2 and collected a pair of assists on the night, and now has three points in the past two games.
The Sabres’ next game will be Wednesday when they host Philadelphia in the first game of a five game homestand. That game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
