ekansekans's blog: "df"

TORONTO, Ontario -- Ryan Miller regained his mastery of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. Elite Ray Lewis Jersey . Miller stopped 34 shots to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 victory and spoil Torontos home opener. It was Millers 28th career win over the Leafs, the most the Sabres netminder has against any NHL team. Miller came into the contest with a 2.44 goals-against average and .922 save percentage versus Toronto (1-1-0), but the Leafs won the season series last year 3-2-1 and were a stellar 3-0-0 versus the Sabres at Air Canada Centre. "Theyve been kicking my ass the last two years a little bit so its time to get back at them," Miller said. "Were in one of the biggest cities for hockey, its great to come and play in front of these fans. "Its a big compliment to Buffalo that weve got great fans and in the area. I feel like this is the whole hockey area-- a big hotbed -- so we come and just try to enjoy yourself and have some fun and its fun to win here." Miller was solid for Buffalo (2-0-0) after registering a 27-save performance in the Sabres 5-2 season-opening home win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night. The veteran netminder was a big reason while the ACC gathering of 19,475 spent much of the contest sitting on its hands. But Nazem Kadri got the home crowd buzzing when he beat Miller on the power play with 1:42 remaining, his second goal of the season. Torontos Joffrey Lupul appeared to tie it 25 seconds later with goalie Ben Scrivens on the bench but the goal was disallowed. With Scrivens back on the bench and Toronto on a late power play, Kadri was all alone to the side of Miller but couldnt get his stick on the bouncing puck in the dying seconds to force overtime. "He (Miller) is a very good goalie, one of the top goalies in the league for a reason," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, who blasted a shot off the post in the first. "You have to have traffic on him and we did but he made some real good saves. "You have to give him credit, he made some big saves for them. We got traffic in the tough areas but at the end of the day we just didnt execute." Cody Hodgson, who had one of Buffalos goals, credited Miller for the victory. "He was pretty amazing back there," Hodgson said. "We were just able to pull it out. "It wasnt the prettiest but well take it." Jason Pominville had the other goal for Buffalo, which was outshot 35-20 in the first of four meetings this year with Toronto. The Leafs opened their season Saturday night with a 2-1 road win over Montreal. The game was the 95th home opener in Leafs history (44-33-15-3). Toronto opened its home schedule against Buffalo for the sixth time (2-3-1-0). Toronto outshot Buffalo 13-5 in the first but it was the Sabres who had the periods lone goal as Hodgson opened the scoring at 8:51, deflecting Christian Ehrhoffs point shot past Scrivens for his second goal of the season. The Leafs had a glorious chance to tie it when the visitors took three straight minor penalties -- giving the home team an extended two-man advantage -- but the closest they came to scoring was Phaneufs slapshot going off the post. Toronto finished the game with one power-play goal in seven attempts and was 0 for 2 with a two-man advantage. "I didnt think there was any lack of effort with our group," Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I thought we were out of sorts in the first period and it showed in the execution of our power play. "When you have an extended, almost a full two-minute five on three, youre expected to provide some offence, youve got to score. And I think that came back to haunt us later in the game. We had our fair share of chances but we just didnt execute to the highest level that was required to win the hockey game." Pominville put Buffalo ahead 2-0 at 4:51 of the second with his first goal of the season. The Sabres captain -- who had three assists Sunday night against Philadelphia -- took a nice setup pass from Thomas Vanek and fired a wrist shot through Scrivens legs. The assist was Vaneks sixth point of the season after registering two goals and three assists against Philadelphia. NOTES -- Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield participated in the ceremonial opening faceoff from space . . . The Leafs opened the season with the NHLs second-youngest roster with an average age of 27.1 years. Only Columbus (26.9 years) is younger . . . Saturdays road win in Montreal marked the third straight season Toronto opened the campaign on a winning note . . . Torontos next game is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. Pink Ray Lewis Jersey .J. -- The New Jersey Devils have signed first-round draft pick Stefan Matteau to an entry-level contract. Marshal Yanda Jersey . Al Ahly beat Tunisias Esperance 2-1 in Tunis for a 3-2 aggregate victory in the two-leg African Champions League final. It is Al Ahlys seventh African club title, improving the record of the competitions most successful club. http://www.nflravensgearshop.com/torrey-smith-jersey/ . 1. Balotelli finding his form It took a little while, but Italian striker Mario Balotelli is finding his form at the perfect time. Balotelli scored both goals to lead Italy past Germany in the semifinals by a score of 2-1. Tyrod Taylor Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders have signed cornerback Brandian Ross to boost their banged-up secondary. Joe Flacco Jersey . Just 23 years old and coming off a 25-goal season in the American Hockey League, MacLean was working towards a full-time spot with the Phoenix Coyotes this summer when he joined some friends in Owen Sound, Ont.Dover, DE (Sports Network) - Ryan Truex will start on the pole for the first time in his early Nationwide Series career after posting the fastest lap in Saturdays qualifying for the 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover International Speedway. Truex, who hails from nearby Mayetta, NJ, turned a lap at 154.746 mph for his maiden pole in his 29th Nationwide start. Last week, Truex underwent emergency surgery to remove his appendix. Doctors cleared him to race earlier this week. His older brother, Martin Truex Jr., a Sprint Cup Series regular, was on standby to drive the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Joey Logano put his No. 18 car on the outside pole, giving JGR the front starting row for the 200-mile race at Dover. Ray Lewis Vapor Jersey. Logano qualified 0.044 seconds behind Truex. Ty Dillon, who is making his Nationwide debut, placed his No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet third on the grid. Dillons older brother, Austin, a rookie in the series this year, qualified 11th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the current points leader and defending series champion, will start fourth, followed by Brian Scott and Elliott Sadler. Justin Allgaier, Mike Bliss, Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. will roll off sixth through 10th, respectively. Stenhouse holds a 13-point advantage over Sadler. The Nationwide race at Dover is scheduled to start just after 2pm et/11am pt on TSN. ' ' '