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Ryan Miller gets pulled early in second period

Ryan Miller, Jhonas Enroth

Buffalo Sabres starting goalie Ryan Miller taps Jhonas Enroth as he leaves the ice in the third period after the Philadelphia Flyers’ scored their fourth goal in Game 7 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series, Tuesday, April 26, 2011, in Philadelphia. The Flyers won 5-2. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

AP

Forgive some Buffalo Sabres fans if they’re having trouble remembering the goalie who won the 2010 Vezina Trophy and nearly won a gold medal for the United States.

Ryan Miller’s among the many Buffalo Sabres who are struggling this season, but more often than not, a netminder’s issues are often the most obvious. The team’s franchise netminder was bounced from tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings after he allowed five goals on just 14 shots.

Lindy Ruff gave him that merciful hook 24:32 into the game, but this wasn’t the earliest he’s been pulled from a contest this season. Miller only made it through six minutes and 23 seconds of a Nov. 2 contest against the Philadelphia Flyers.

If the rest of the Sabres’ contest against Detroit goes as expected, Miller’s record will drop to 11-13-2. He came into Monday with the numbers of an average backup (.903 save percentage, 2.97 GAA) and those stats only figure to drop a bit more.

It’s unfair to blame Miller alone for this debacle of a season. He’s been bailing out Buffalo’s defense for years and it seems like the last couple campaigns have caught up with him.

Still, it’s tough not to wonder if some kind of change might happen if the slippage continues in Buffalo - even if Terry Pegula has been generous with excuses.

With that in mind, what would you do to fix this mess?