Buffalo Sabres: What it was like attending Ryan Miller Night?

Former Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller was honored on Thursday night, and I was there to see it happen live and in-person.

Yesterday was memorable in so many ways. Not only did Ryan Miller get his number 30 retired and also got inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hockey Hall of Fame, but the team won a huge game against the New York Islanders. If you couldn’t attend the game, have no fear.

In this article, I’m going to give you a firsthand account of what it was like being in the building on Thursday night. From the ceremony to the game itself, I got you covered. Let’s start with the ceremony first. It was a long day to be working at KeyBank Center. Doors opened at 4:30 for a game that started three hours later.

The team encouraged fans to be in their seats before 6pm because that’s when the ceremony would start. As for the ceremony, the Sabres nailed it. What stood out to me was who Buffalo invited back. Some of Miller’s teammates were present including Henrik Tallinder, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Tim Connolly, Andrew Peters, Drew Stafford and others.

It felt like I stepped into a time travel machine and went back to the late 2000’s, it was so cool to see some of the players back in town for this awesome night. When Ryan came out, the whole building exploded in cheering which was totally deserved.

After Rick Jeanneret gave a speech, it was time for Ryan to give his own speech. He talked about being in Buffalo, the people who supported him and how he dreamt of having his own number retired in the rafters. After his speech, it was time to raise the banner and it gave me chills.

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After that, it was game on. First of all, it was so refreshing being in a sold out KeyBank Center again. Just like how it was during RJ Night and some games this season, every seat was filled and the energy was buzzing all night.

Buffalo Sabres capped off Ryan Miller Night with a win

As for the game itself, the Sabres were definitely the better team. Even though the Islanders had a lead twice, Buffalo generated tons and tons of chances but Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin was absolutely incredible. And then, Ukko Pekka Luukkonen decided to put on a show. How ironic is it that both goaltenders put on a clinic on the night that was a celebration for a goalie?

UPL had tons of saves but the best save he had was with less than 10 seconds to go in the third period. After Alex Tuch got hauled down in the New York zone and no call on the play, the Islanders had a two on one with a chance to win the game.

On a night that was supposed to be about celebration, the Islanders scoring would have been a huge gut punch. But Luukkonen stood tall and stopped the shot, sending the game to overtime. Fans didn’t have to wait long for the result as Dylan Cozens would score the game winning goal 12 seconds into overtime after an amazing pass from Rasmus Dahlin.

Then the best part for me was having Millsy on the ice to join the celebration and take a picture with the team. Just like how they did with RJ, it was the cherry on top to an amazing and emotional night in downtown Buffalo.

With the win, Buffalo got themselves four points out of a playoff spot. Miller said during his ceremony that this group is heading into the right direction and it definitely looks like that’s the case as this core of players look to break the drought.

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