It’s been an up and down season for the Vancouver Canucks, and that seems especially true for Ryan Miller.
The last two games might depict that contrast most succinctly: after shutting out the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Miller was pulled midway through Monday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild after allowing five goals on 18 shots.
The 34-year-old seemed perplexed by his erratic work in discussing it with the Vancouver Province.
“There are no real adjustments — just stay the course and take what you can out of it,” Miller said. “My read on the third goal (Nino Niederreiter slot slapper off cross-ice feed) could have been better and he got it up. I don’t know. That’s hockey. Feast or famine I guess — four hooks and six shutouts. Who knows?”
Most goalies probably see some pretty dramatic differences in their stats in wins versus losses, yet the disparity is still pretty striking with Miller.
In 25 wins, he has those six shutouts, a 1.47 GAA and a .947 save percentage. In 15 defeats, his GAA balloons to 4.40 and his save percentage plummets to .849.
On face value, his stats are about par for the course for his career (25-14-1 record, 2.45 GAA, and a .913 save percentage that’s just short of his .915 career average).
At his age, it’s not likely that he’ll make drastic changes. He’s just going to need to hope for better results from himself and his team going forward.