It’s been a long time since Ryan Miller hasn’t started a game for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller has started every game since November 26th and the last time a goalie not named Ryan Miller started was November 24th when rookie Jhonas Enroth started and lost a 1-0 game to Pittsburgh.
Tonight when the Sabres face the Canadiens in Montreal, Ryan Miller will be wearing the baseball cap on the bench rather than starting on the ice but it won’t be his backup Patrick Lalime that gets the call to start. Instead, Enroth will be back up from the AHL to get the start. (Update: Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News reports that Miller will not even suit up, Lalime will back up Enroth)
If you’re wondering why Patrick Lalime is even playing in Buffalo if he’s not trusted enough to even get a start when it’s finally time you’re not alone as Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan says that if Lalime is getting skipped now after working Miller like a dog, perhaps Enroth should just stay for good.I’d go with Enroth for the rest of the season. Enroth played better than Lalime early in the year. Early in November, he won back-to-back games in shootouts when the Sabres were 3-9-2 and there was speculation about Ruff’s job. Enroth lost, 1-0, to the Penguins.
If the Sabres are serious about making a playoff push, they need a reliable backup. They can’t keep pretending Miller is a superstar, capable of carrying a team by himself. They need to find out about Enroth. Either that, or trade for a proven backup before the deadline.
The Sabres are about to enter a brutal stretch of games in which they’ll play 16 in the next 29 days. Giving Miller a night off here before likely playing again on Wednesday against Toronto makes sense, but if the Sabres plan on riding Miller as hard as they’ve been, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if he has a few more off-nights like he had on Sunday afternoon against the Islanders when he surrendered seven goals in a 7-6 overtime loss.
That said, it seems silly that Lalime is even hanging around in the NHL still if he’s going to get passed over for starts when it’s obviously his time to get one. Coach Lindy Ruff’s confidence in Lalime is clearly very poor as he hasn’t had the guts to go with Lalime at all for a span of over two months to spell Miller for even a game here and there.
Miller’s opinion of Lalime is sky high and he’s been thankful for having Lalime as a teammate to provide veteran guidance as he said after winning the Vezina last season. But when it comes down to it, having a competent teammate might be more important than having a good friend to be the guy to help you out when you need a break. Lalime hasn’t been that guy, nor has he been given much of a chance to show it. If the Sabres are serious about getting to the playoffs ensuring that Miller can carry you is the team’s top priority and if Lalime isn’t the guy to get it done, then it’s time for him to go.