Friday night’s game was a microcosm of the series. Buffalo quickly took a 2-0 lead, only to squander it and allow the Flyers to come back, tie and eventually win 5-4. If the Sabres don't do something about their porous goaltending and lack of killer instinct when they take a lead, then this series could well be over with in two games.

The Sabres are giving the Flyers gift goals and it has given the men in orange and black new life. Ryan Miller has become a sieve in goal and it could be the only way to prevent the Flyers from winning 4 straight would be to replace Miller with Marty Biron. Miller allowing two very stoppable goals Friday night gave the Flyers a 5-4 win and they tied up the series at 2 games apiece. Because of Miler's porous goaltending the past two games, the Flyers have momentum in this series instead of being swept by Buffalo.

For the fourth game in a row, the Sabres took the early lead. Thomas Vanek scored first when he defected a shot by Rory Fitzpatrick with only 2:34 gone in the game. Then Daniel Briere came out of the penalty box and got the puck at center ice. He stormed in on Robert Esche and the shot was blocked by Esche's pad. However, Eric Desjardins, coming in on the play, bowled into Esche and the two of them went into the net along with the puck.

Desjardins made that up by scoring on a long shot, which has provened to be Ryan Miller's Achilles heel in this series. In the second, Miller gave up another one he'd want back and Forsberg got a shot over his glove and suddenly the game was tied up.

The Sabres had to kill off several penalties in the second period, and twice they got breakaways. One time Derek Roy was tripped down and had a penalty shot, which he shot it over Esche.

In the third period, the Flyers continued to draw penalties as the Sabres abandoned their disciplined game. They killed off one penalty, but then Petr Nedved got it past Miller and the Flyers suddenly had a 3-2 lead over the Sabres. The Sabres had a 2-0 lead at one point in the first period, but sloppy play and poor goaltending allowed the Flyers to dictate the game.

The Sabres were able to tie it up on a powerplay goal by Briere, but then Miller gave up the worst goal of the playoffs. It was a shot from the blue line by Umberger that trickled in toward Miller. As he came up on the shot, the puck trickled through his pads and slowly bounced into the net. Miller has once again proven that he is not ready for prime time. He blew it for the Amerks in the playoffs the past two years and now he's doing it again for the Sabres.

The Sabres actually came back late and scored a goal to make it 5-4, but by that time the damage was done and it was too late. Will Miller start game 5? If he does, Lindy Ruff is taking a huge chance on Miller, who has yet to prove that he even deserves to be on the ice for an NHL playoff game. Robert Esche has definitely outplayed Miller in 3 out of 4 games.

Miller takes the blame

Miller has fessed up and claimed responsibility for allowing a goal that may have broken the Sabres backs. Word in the AHL last year during the playoffs was to take long shots on Miller as he had lots of trouble handling them and almost half the shots would go in.

Friday night, the Flyers paid attention to that little tip and were firing from far out all night. Two of them went in and Miller agrees the last one was a horrendous gift to the Flyers, who came back from being down 2-0 to win this one 5-4.

Miller has yet to really prove his mettle in the NHL playoffs. In fact, his play doesn't even deserve a backup position. The Sabres, with decent goaltending, could be celebrating a sweep over the Flyers at this point. Instead, because of the porous play of Miller, they now limp back to Buffalo with the series tied at 2-2.

Miller has accepted the blame for the goal by R.J. Umberger, who took a long shot on Miller that Miller saw all the way. It got through his arm and slowly, slowly trickled past the goal line. That was the second soft goal that Miller allowed Friday, adding to his collection of possibly 4 goals that should never have happened these past two games.

"I ill-fated up pretty good there," Miller admitted. "I just tried to trap it instead of save it, and it squirted through. I thought I was playing solid all night. Now we have Sunday afternoon (to come back)."

Now the big question is whether Lindy Ruff will stick to his plan and continue to play Miller, or do the right thing and start Marty Biron on Sunday. Miller is a liability and should not play another game in the playoffs. He is not a consistent, steady, NHL goalie yet and by playing him another game, Ruff is seriously jeopardizing the Sabres chances of advancing.

The Philadelphia Flyers are talking advantage of several gifts that Miller is giving them in the way of soft goals. While other young goalies have been able to have an impact in the NHL playoffs and take their team on their shoulders can carry them deep in the playoffs, Miller's shoulders are barely big enough to be carrying the golf clubs he's bound to be carrying next week.

Esche vs Miller

While Miller has been struggling in goal, Flyers goalie Robert Esche has more than made up for his one and only poor performance when the Sabres blasted the Flyers 8-2 on Monday. He has outperformed his younger American counterpart two-fold and Miller isn't even worthy of being on the same ice as Esche.

The goaltender in hockey and quarterback in football are similar positions. While the quarterback is the leader on offense and the goalie the last line of defense, the two positions need a certain type of leader. The Buffalo Bills tried to feature JP Losman as their young quarterback last season. They were patient but when it became apparent that he was not ready for prime time, they replaced him with a more experienced backup.
The Sabres have given Ryan Miller more than enough time to prove that he's ready to provide the solid goaltending the Sabres haven't had since Dominik Hasek departed. He has yet to live up to that bill and it may be time for the Sabres to take a page out of the Bills book and replace the rookie with a more seasoned veteran. Marty Biron may have never played an NHL playoff game, but he's more than capable of stepping in and giving the Sabres the kind of stellar goaltending that they desperately need a this time.

Miller isn't completely responsible for the meltdown in Philly, but if he stops 3 of 4 of those soft goals he allowed the past two games, the Sabres would have come out winning at least one of those games on the road.

If Sabres coach Lindy Ruff doesn't make the bold move and start Marty Biron Sunday in game 5, he's signing the death warrant for the Sabres playoffs hopes this season. It's taken Buffalo 5 long years to reach the playoffs again and now, with Ruff's insistence on continuing to start Miller, he may be signing the deal for a quick exit in the playoffs.

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