No trade can help this team: Miller

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On the home end of the rink, the Red Wings Jimmy Howard became the first goalie to win 15 straight games at home since Gilles Gilbert, who racked up 16 consecutive victories for the Boston Bruins in 1973-74. Howard accomplished the feat in convincing style, recording 27 saves in a 5-0 shutout. The 27-year-old, who made the all-star team despite being not being on the official ballot, extended his NHL lead in wins to 27 and is now second overall in shutouts with five.

Between the visiting posts, Ryan Miller – long regarded as one of the league’s elite netminders – recorded his 13th loss. Miller’s goals-against average of 3.12 and save percentage of .898 set him on pace for his worst statistical season in seven years (and that year he only played three games). Buffalo has now lost 11 of its last 14 games and sits seven points out of a playoff spot.

A despondent Miller, who has been run over both literally (see: Lucic, Milan; Tootoo, Jordin) and metaphorically more than once this season, addressed the media after the defeat.

"It's embarrassing," Miller said. "It's not good hockey. It's not good from top down. I need to be better. I can't seem to find a night where I can get in a groove. I don't know what the hell it is."

A reporter in the scrum asked the goaltender if a shake-up in the Sabres’ lineup is in order. ,br> "If you guys really think there's going to be any kind of trade made anywhere that's going to affect this team anymore than we can affect it in this locker room, you guys are just ... I don't know," Miller said. "I don't know what to think because there's no such trade.

"There's not ever going to be a trade in the history of the NHL that's going to affect anything like that. There's no chance anybody comes into this team and just shakes it up or we can even move multiple players and get any kind of return.

"If you want to just destroy a team and go out and be reckless and do something, yeah. Then there's going to be new guys in here. But other than that, this locker room is going to be pretty much the same, if not completely the same and we gotta find it from in here [points to chest]. You can't sit and wait for somebody else to [expletive] do it."