Sharpen Up: April 30, 2021 | Tributes to Ryan Miller pour in

The Buffalo Sabres are wrapping up their final series against the Boston Bruins. Last night, Boston took Game 7 of 8 by a 5-2 score at TD Garden.
The two clubs will meet again tomorrow afternoon for their last head-to-head matchup. Faceoff is at 1 p.m. on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage on MSG kicking things off at 12:30.
Buffalo is set to practice today. We'll have updates for you here on Sabres.com.
Here's what you need to know.

A look back at last night

Casey Mittelstadt and Sam Reinhart scored Buffalo's goals in the loss in Boston.
Over the last four games, Reinhart has scored six of the team's 12 goals. Buffalo is 1-3-0 over that stretch. Last night's loss came as a result of the Bruins scoring three times in the third period.
A series of individual lapses proved to be the difference after Reinhart scored 1:43 into the third to tie the game at 2-2.
Charlie Coyle broke the tie when he intercepted a pass from Reinhart in the neutral zone and used his body to fend off the Sabres forward as he beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from in tight.
Taylor Hall's goal to make it 4-2 was tapped into a wide-open net after David Krejci pulled a series of moves to carry the puck past Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharju.
Brad Marchand scored shorthanded on an empty net with 1:34 remaining.

"Nothing was easy for them in the sense of grinding it out," Sabres interim coach Don Granato said. "We made them work for that. The exception shows you how talented that group is. You shut them down and they can take one little moment and make you pay for it. So, for us, those are the experiences that we need to get better from.
"Obviously you look at our players and where they're at in their NHL career, to push and compete the way they are, our guys are going to get better because of the battle they put in. If we weren't working hard, I'd be really disappointed in that regard."
Read more in the Postgame Report.
The Sabres are 3-6-1 over their last 10 games. They went 6-8-2 in the month of April.
"It's all about development. I keep saying it, we have to get better and so that is the push, to get better. Again, you compete every night to win. You lay a game plan, a strategy out to implement that targets the win. But you have to get better and we've seen that. Our players, there's no question they feel that. It's obvious when you work with them, they're engaged in practices and meetings.
"I think every guy's getting better and obviously collectively we're getting better. When you do that and you keep getting better, everything eventually becomes easier. And we're not at that point obviously yet, we're still fighting and scratching and clawing, but it will turn if you keep going in that direction and we have to stay focused on that."

Miller announces retirement

Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller, who started his career with the Sabres, announced yesterday that he would be retiring from professional hockey at the end of this season.
Miller, 40, finishes as the all-time winningest U.S.-born goaltender. His 390 wins rank 14th in NHL history, one ahead of fellow Sabres legend Dominik Hasek.
Miller also holds Sabres franchise records in games played by a goaltender (540), wins (284), and saves (14,847). His .916 save percentage with the team is tied for second, behind Hasek.
Throughout his 12-year tenure with Buffalo, Miller made a deep connection with the community.

"I always felt like I kind of owed something to Buffalo in a way," Miller said. "I always wanted to do right by the fans. It was a big inspiration behind a lot of the work in the community and charity and stuff like that.
"I felt like I was doing something I was very lucky to be doing and Buffalo was allowing me to do it, so I should be trying to make Buffalo a better place by giving my time and giving attention and sometimes giving opportunity or money to different charities which would just make the community rise up just a little bit. That would just make me feel better about what I was getting from Buffalo."

He was generous with the time he did have. Miller became a regular in the pediatric wing at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, known among staff for his authenticity and willingness to attend any event presented to him. He visited Roswell during one of his first trips back to Buffalo as a member of the Canucks and continued to meet with patients after games as a visiting player.
"It was very unique involvement," said Robin Nusbaum, who managed the Courage of Carly Fund (then known as Carly's Club) at Roswell and worked directly with Miller. "He would just text me sometimes and say, 'I'm off today, I don't have practice, can I come up to the hospital?'
"It was really a personal involvement and a personal desire to give back and be part of the community and to be able to lift the spirits of our pediatric cancer patients at Roswell."
Read more about those efforts here.

Some reaction to Miller's announcement

'Rico' voting ends tonight

The final round of voting for the inaugural Rick Martin Memorial Award closes today at 5 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to cast their ballot for the player they believe best demonstrates on-ice excellence, resiliency, and a dedication to the community.
The finalists for the "The Rico" - in alphabetical order - are:
These five players had the most votes after the first round of voting closed on Monday.
Click here to vote now.

Bills Draft recap

Congrats to Miami defensive end Gregory Rousseau, whom the Buffalo Bills drafted in the first round (30th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft last night.

Rounds 2 and 3 are tonight.