Miller Leads Blues To 1-0 Shootout Win Over Flyers

[April 03, 2014]  ST. LOUIS — There might have been times, earlier in his career, when goaltender Ryan Miller would have had a different reaction when he took the ice following what he thought was a poor game on his part.

The St. Louis goalie is at the point now, however, that he can forget about a game like he had Saturday night — a 4-2 loss to Dallas — and come right back and play a game like he did for the Blues on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Miller and Flyers' goalie Ray Emery locked up in a scoreless duel through regulation and overtime before Miller made two more saves in the shootout as the Blues won 1-0 on goals by right winger T.J. Oshie and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk in the tiebreaker.

"I'm just trying to be really calm about everything," Miller said. "There's no sense letting things get off the rails and panicking too much. Hockey is the kind of game where things go your way sometimes and sometimes they don't despite what you do. I'm really just trying to take that mindset of competing hard and doing all the right things and seeing where you end up.

"I thought the last four or five games had not really gone my way and I just wanted to go out and see if one could go my way and it did. I was more trying to show I could grind through a game. I felt now was kind of a good opportunity for me to show the boys I could do that."

Coach Ken Hitchcock said he had not seen a goaltender turn in an effort such as Miller's game in a long time. Miller stopped 27 shots in regulation, several of the highlight variety, and four more in overtime when there was no margin for error. It was easily Miller's best game since being acquired by the Blues from Buffalo on Feb. 28.

"He was terrific," Hitchcock said. "He was focused and competitive. We needed him badly today. He stood tall. This was a 1-0 game that could have been 7-6 easily. What you saw today was how competitive he is. That's his calling card.

"He was really disappointed with how he played the last game and we really needed him today. I haven't seen that from anybody really since (Ed) Belfour, where a guy makes that many great saves. It was really neat to watch. The feeling on the bench for me was that they weren't going to score."

Miller could not recall his last shutout — which actually came on March 21, 2012, against Montreal, 101 games ago.

"You have to give him credit," said Flyers' left winger Michael Raffl. "He made desperate saves out there and he played really well tonight."

Miller's saves on center Vincent Lacavalier and center Claude Giroux came after Oshie's goal — making him 9-for-12 in shootouts this season — and a missed shot by left winger Alexander Steen. That gave Shattenkirk the chance to win the game for the Blues and he did, beating Emery.

"It's frustrating to fall short in the shootout, but I thought we did well and it's a great team," said Emery, who was playing only his fifth game since Jan. 25 and who also was credited with a shutout, his second of the season.

The win improved the Blues' record in shootouts this season to 9-3. The Flyers, who lost a shootout to Boston on Sunday, fell to 3-9.

The victory also allowed the Blues to move back within one point of the idle Boston Bruins in the race for the President's Trophy with 109 points. They lead Anaheim in the race for the best record in the Western Conference by three points.

It was the first time the Blues played a scoreless game through regulation and overtime since they lost 1-0 in a shootout to the Kings in Los Angeles on March 22, 2012.

"It was a fun night," Miller said. "When the puck is hitting you it's a lot of fun."

NOTES: The win was the Blues 51st of the season, tying the franchise record set in 1999-2000. ... For the first time since the 2002-03 season, the Flyers and Blues met more than once in a season. Tuesday was only the third time the Flyers played in St. Louis in the past eight years, their last trip coming Oct. 9, 2010. ... Philadelphia D Kimmo Timonen did not make the trip to St. Louis after taking a puck off his face in Sunday's game against the Boston Bruins. D Erik Gustafsson was inserted into the lineup for the first time since Feb. 27, a span of 15 games. ... Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko, out with a broken hand, has resumed skating but is still reported to be at least a couple of weeks from being ready to play. ... The Blues had an 11-3-1 record last month, the first time in franchise history they posted 11 wins in March.

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