NHL Update: Buffalo Sabres nip San Jose Sharks 3-0
Ryan Miller brushed aside all 36 shots and Thomas Vanek had his team-leading 16th goal as Buffalo Sabres nipped San Jose Sharks, 3-0, at HP Pavilion on Thursday night.
Luke Adam, Jochen Hecht and Thomas Vanek each scored a goal for Buffalo and thus helped Lindy Ruff reach his 500th career victory as head coach. Buffalo has won 3 of its last 4 games.
“It means I’ve had a lot of good players to get to that point,” Ruff said. “To get 500 and be with one organization, the organization I grew up playing in, is special.”
Antero Niittymaki yielded all three goals on 22 shots in the loss. San Jose has lost two consecutive games and four of six games.
Both teams got three power-play opportunities in the first period. Neither was able to capitalize with the extra man, each team losing an opportunity by committing its own penalty.
Adam opened the scoring for Buffalo with his third goal of the season at 10:43 in the first period. He backhanded a rebound of Cody McCormick’s shot over Niittymaki for a 1-0 lead.
After a few seconds, San Jose Sharks got a good scoring chance when Mike Grier slipped a loose puck that dribbled by goaltender Miller off the goal line.
Buffalo struck again for a 2-0 advantage for the visitors with 3:24 left in the first period. Hecht appeared from traffic along the right boards with the puck, paused between the circles and unleashed a successful wrist shot.
At 3:31 of the second period, Vanek's 16th goal of the season on a power-play successfully sealed the victory for Sabres. Jordan Leopold slapped a pass to Drew Stafford who was behind the Sharks' net. Stafford quickly passed the puck to Vanek
who one-timed it home for a 3-0 edge.
"We give up the first [goal] because we're soft, the second one because we cheat, and the third one -- we must have spent 10 or 15 minutes in practice on that exact play and it comes back to bite us. So that sums up the game," a frustrated Todd McLellan
said of his Sharks.
Sharks started slowly from the beginning of second period, and by the time when they lastly took hold on the play, they were already rambling 3-0.
“You give that goaltender a 3-0 lead, it doesn’t matter,” McLellan said. “The first team that played in the first period was unacceptable, after that not a bad effort but way too late.”
Miller had a good vision on Sharks’ shots with the extra man, as Buffalo defence was doing a nice job keeping the front of the net clear.
Sharks continued to put heavy pressure on Miller in the whole second period. Miller made his best save against Benn Ferriero and then shut down San Jose on a late power play.
In the third period, Miller saved his 20th career shutout on a power-play when he slid across the net and stopped Dany Heatley’s shot.
Miller made 12 saves in the first period, stopped 13 shots in the second then finished his whitewash by turning away 11 shots in the third.
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