It’s not like Ryan Miller spent a long time as a member of the St. Louis Blues, yet he’d be lying if he said tonight’s game meant nothing. He certainly played like he cared, too, as he was the main reason the Vancouver Canucks won 4-1 on Thursday.
Miller held the Blues off the board in the third period despite St. Louis’ 15-4 shot advantage. The 34-year-old stopped 31 out of 32 shots overall.
The most memorable moment of the night might have been when the 34-year-old made a great save on Jori Lehtera and then Nick Bonino scored seconds later:
Here are more highlights from the game:
Miller rewarded Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins for trusting him against the Blues after a tough outing versus the Dallas Stars, as the Vancouver Province’s Jason Botchford notes:
After pulling Miller in Dallas, Desjardins told him he was getting St. Louis. Miller said: "Good. That's the game I want." Ya, it showed
— Jason Botchford (@botchford) October 24, 2014
While his comments were fairly subdued, Miller relished this win:
Miller: "I've never had a chance to play a former team. It was one I was really looking forward to." #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 24, 2014
More Miller: "Our guys responded well tonight. We skated well tonight and fought hard." #Canucks
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 24, 2014
Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock didn’t want to hear any excuses following such a loss, according to NHL.com’s Lou Korac.
Hitch: "We're not playing the right way. ... We don't want to play the right way." Said players being sick is an excuse. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) October 24, 2014