Just when it looked as if the Buffalo Sabres finally had the plug to fill the huge void left when Dominik Hasek left town, a freak accident put Sabres rookie goalie Ryan Miller on the shelf for 6-8 weeks.

Miller who cemented the starting goalie spot with his stellar play this season, was injured during practice Wednesday. Miller said that the puck hit his stick, rolled up the stick and hit his thumb (his blocker mitt was on!) and he heard it snap.

Reports are that Miller won't be back for 6-8 weeks! Marty Biron and Mika Noronen took times being sieves in goals Wednesday night in a 10-4 loss to the Senators. Now that Miller is out, it will squash any trade rumors until at least the start of the New Year.

Biron, who didn’t play last year during NHL lockout, has looked like a deer in the headlights the past two games he’s played. Against the New York Islanders on Saturday, Biron allowed a goal on the first shot to ex-Sabre Miroslav Satan and shortly after, another former player, Alexei Zhitnik, got one past a bewildered Biron. Marty allowed 4 goals in that game, but the Sabres rebounded and scored half a dozen in a 6-4 win.

Wednesday night against the Sens, it was a complete meltdown in goal for Buffalo. Biron allowed a goal on the short side on the first shot the Senators took. Biron didn’t have his pads glued to the goal post and Dany Heatley squeezed it in.

To say this Senator team is a juggernaut is an understatement. The Sens blasted the Leafs 8-0 Saturday night in Toronto, and then come into Buffalo and score 10 more. Heatley scored 4 goals in Toronto, and two other Sens scored 4 goals each in Buffalo. Martin Havlat and Daniel Alfredsson equaled Heatley’s 4-goal feat against the hapless Sabres goalies, and Heatley himself notched a pair of goals to up his two-game total to 6 goals.

Miller definitely came out of the chute with fire in his eyes. After being one of the best goalies in the AHL last year, he dominated the goalie competition and played every game until Saturday when Biron made his first start.

Then came nightmare Wednesday and Miller received an injury that was comparable to the one J.P. Losman when he broke his leg in training camp last year.

"It was a simple little shot that he went to redirect into the corner,'' explained Lindy Ruff. "It missed his blocker and smashed into his thumb."

Miller was put on the injured reserve Thursday and has an operation on his thumb scheduled for Friday, where will implant screws put into his thumb.

``It's disappointing, but it's something where I can heal up and come back,'' reflected Miller.

Ruff is trying to get the Sabres goaltending back in snuff. After getting Miller all the playing time until Saturday, the other two goalies didn’t get any playing time and when they were thrust into the lineup, it wasn’t any wonder that they were lit up.

"It is what it is," put in Ruff talking about losing his top goalie and now having to get the two backups up and ready for prime time. "The goal is to get them ready for Friday night. That's why Marty went back in there in the third."

Biron has the most NHL playing experience of any of the three. He played backup to Hasek for the most part from 1999 until Hasek was traded. In fact, Biron played 3 NHL games for the Sabres 10 years ago, way back in the 1995-96 season, and in the 1999-00 season he played in 41 games, going 19-18-2. In 2001-02, Biron played his first full season as the No. 1 goalie, playing 72 games, going 31-28-10 with a 2.22 GAA. The next season, in 2002-03, he played in 54, posting a losing record of 17-28-6 with a 2.56 GAA. In the last season before the lockout, Biron had 26-18 record, with a 2.52 GAA.

"I got enough experience to know that you always have to be ready," said Biron, who also permitted a goal on the first shot he faced Saturday on Long Island in his season debut. "I was ready. I got out for warm-up and felt great. It just got away from me."

Biron has the experience, but maybe not playing last season during the lockout took away a little of his edge. He will get that back, but it may take a week or so. The past few seasons he did play, Biron was always slow to get going early in the year. At season’s end, he was always on top of his game.

Miller may be out until after Christmas, but the Sabres won’t tank it because both Biron and Noronen have the experience to carry the team until his return. Wednesday night’s 10-4 rout definitely put a red light on the goaltending situation, but things are not as bleak as some suggest. Biron has been waiting for this chance and now he has to grab it.

"We still feel that we are really strong in every aspect of the game, and nobody is going to come in and tell me that we're not," Biron said. "So it doesn't matter what happened tonight. We just gotta go out there and prove it."

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