Miller injured and angry after hit by Lucic

BOSTON -- The holiday season is approaching. Don't expect Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller and Boston forward Milan Lucic to exchange pleasantries.

Miller and Lucic were involved in a first-period collision that resulted in a charging penalty against Lucic. Miller wound up on his back while some of the Sabres players made a half-hearted attempt to go after Lucic. The Buffalo goaltender left the game after the second period with what the team termed an upper-body injury.

After the Bruins' 6-2 win at the TD Garden, the goaltender was brief with his statement. When asked about his injury, he turned the topic to Lucic.

"I'm not going to go into that. I just stuck around because I just wanted to say what a piece of [expletive] I think Lucic is," Miller said. "Fifty pounds on me and he runs me like that? It's unbelievable. Everyone in this city sees him as a big, tough, solid player. I respected him for how hard he played. That was gutless. Gutless piece of [expletive]."

When read Miller's quote by NHL.com, Lucic didn't fire back.

"He came out of his net. I was going full speed," he told NHL.com. "There's not much I can do. So that's basically it."

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said that Miller was suffering from a "little bit of a sore neck." He was also disappointed that there was only a minor penalty on Lucic.
"I thought it was a major," Ruff said. "I thought if it's open season on the goalies, then let's get at it."

The Bruins and Sabres, Northeast Division rivals, will meet five more times this season. So they'll have plenty more chances to "get at it" -- and Miller will have a chance to let Lucic know what he thinks to his face.