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Miller's Buffalo homecoming spoiled by Ristolainen's last second heroics (Video)

Jen Neale
Miller's Buffalo homecoming spoiled by Ristolainen's last second heroics (Video)

On February 28, 2014, Ryan Miller was traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the St. Louis Blues. It look over a year for the net minder to face his old his old team and it came as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

During the first TV time out, the Sabres posted this video tribute to their former goaltender:

Miller saluted the crowd that had cheered for him, not against, since he was drafted by the Sabres in 1999.

On Friday, Miller spoke to reporters about his return. From Joe Yerdon of NHL.com:

"The only thing I kind of thought about was that it was odd it's been so long," Miller said. "I think (last time) standing here a year and a half ago (after the trade), so it's been a long time. Getting injured last year the game before coming back here was a little bit ironic. It's just been a while. Pulling up and seeing how things have changed, that was interesting to see. It was a great chapter of my life, and things have definitely kept moving forward for everybody."

It looked like it was going to be Miller's game at 3:28 into the first when he makes a save on an almost certain goal by Ryan O'Reilly:

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But alas, the Sabres would come out on top.

Christopher Higgins tied the game at 2-2 midway through the third period. The match appeared to be heading to overtime when Tyler Ennis intercepted the puck at the Buffalo blueline. Ennis single handedly worked it down past the Canucks defense, making a pass at the goal line to Marcus Foligno, who promptly got the puck to an open Rasmus Ristolainen in the slot.

With 16 seconds left in the game, Ristolainen potted his second goal of the contest, sending a laser of a wrist shot past Miller. Buffalo wins 3-2.

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.

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