Sabres goalie Miller suffers concussion after hit
Star goalie Ryan Miller has a concussion, Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier confirmed to ESPN.com via text Sunday night.
Miller was shaken up in Saturday night’s 6-2 loss to Boston after taking a hit from Bruins winger Milan Lucic. Miller left the game in the second period and did not return.
Miller came out of his crease to play the puck and take away a breakaway opportunity for Lucic in the first period.
“
(Lucic has) 50 pounds on me and he runs me like that? It’s unbelievable. Everyone in this city sees him as a big tough solid player. I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless.
”
– Sabres goalie Ryan Miller
Miller’s mask flew off and he took a wild swipe from his seat at Lucic with his goalie stick just before two Sabres pounced on Lucic.
The Sabres star stopped 19 of 22 shots before being pulled after the second period.
Lucic was given a minor penalty for charging and a source told ESPN.com that he will have a hearing with the NHL at 1 p.m. Monday to discuss the hit.
“I thought it was a major,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said Saturday. “I thought if it was open season on goalies then let’s get at it.”
Miller also had strong words for Lucic.
“(Lucic has) 50 pounds on me and he runs me like that? It’s unbelievable,” Miller said after Saturday’s loss. “Everyone in this city sees him as a big tough solid player. I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless.”
The Sabres called up goalie Drew MacIntyre from AHL Rochester and he was expected to back up Jhonas Enroth Monday night in Montreal.
It wasn’t clear how long Miller would be out.
“Hopefully it is not severe and hopefully it is not longterm,” Regier told the Buffalo News on Sunday night.
Regier also told the Buffalo News that he felt the play deserved a suspension from the league.
“If this hit and other types of hits like this are not suspended, we are opening up the possibility of losing goaltenders to injury,” Regier told the Buffalo News. “And not just injury, but concussion. … When I look at the position of goaltending, in a lot of ways it’s not unlike quarterback in football. I feel very strongly the protection has to be provided and players committing these types of action should be punished.
“The last thing we need to do in the NHL is to be losing our stars to concussions on plays like this.”
Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.