Miller returns to Buffalo in Victory Green

The signing of Colin Miller with the Stars has turned out well for both player and team.
Miller spent the past three seasons in Buffalo and battled injuries, leading to some performance issues and healthy scratches. This made him available as an unrestricted free agent in the summer, and Dallas swooped in, inking him to a two-year deal for $1.85 million per season. Miller, 30, was coming off a four-year deal that averaged $3.875 million, so he definitely was in "prove it" mode.
So far, he has done just that.
Miller is a big part of the Stars defense corps and is playing most nights as a partner to Miro Heiskanen. That's a big boost from his time in Buffalo, and a reminder of the player he has been for much of his career.

"He had a great year in Vegas four or five years ago and then fell into some injury issues here where it didn't work out," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said after the morning skate in Buffalo on Thursday. "This is his chance to respond at a time in his career, and to his credit, he's taken his opportunity to play with Heiskanen and made the most of it."

Miller has 14 points (3 goals, 11 assists) in 61 games and is plus-19. Miller is fifth on the team in SAT (shot attempt differential at even strength) at plus-115 and is third on the team in hits at 89.
"It's been good," Miller said when asked about his time with the Stars. "The team is playing well, we're in a good spot, important games at this time of the season. It's been a lot of fun."
Does he see a key to the resurgence in his game?
"It's a couple of things, but the opportunity has been great here and I'm just trying to continue on," he said. "Obviously, we have a great team too."

The team success has been good for a lot of players. Miller is averaging 2:20 per game in fewer minutes of ice time than last season in Buffalo (18:59 to 16:38), but he's playing key minutes with Heiskanen and has proven to be a great complement to the Stars' top defenseman. The new coaching staff has spread the minutes evenly and the result has been a team who ranks fourth in goals against at 2.63 per game.
Now, goalie Jake Oettinger deserves a lot of credit for that number, but the defense has been quite consistent.
"We've been fortunate with injures, and that's been one of the positives back there," DeBoer said. "As a group, they've done a good job. Our goals against have been really good. Like all teams, you have good nights and bad nights, but it's been a pretty solid year."
Because the team has seven healthy defensemen, the coaching staff has been alternating some players in. Nils Lundkvist will come out tonight and Joel Hanley will sub in, and that's part of the team's ability to share the load on defense.
Miller is a big part of this. After losing John Klingberg in free agency in the summer, the team needed to replenish the right-handed defenseman stock, so they added Miller and Lundkvist. The opportunity to play beside Heiskanen was wide open and Miller earned the spot. DeBoer said the veteran has a lot of characteristics that work well next to Heiskanen.
"I think you've got to be smart. You've got to be competitive, and you have to be able to skate," DeBoer said. "Those are the key things, and I think he checks a lot of those boxes."
Miller said playing beside Heiskanen is simply, "fun."
"He's a really good player," Miller said. "It's gone well, but I think anybody can play with anybody on our back end."
As for being back in Buffalo, that should be fun too.
"It's a big night for him coming back to his old team," DeBoer said. "I'm sure he's excited to be back, and we're excited for him."
Key Numbers
13-17-2
The Sabres rank 29th in home record at 13-17-2. Buffalo is 19-10-2 on the road.
72.9 percent
Buffalo ranks 31st in penalty kill success at 72.9 percent.
19
Both Max Domi and Evgenii Dadonov have 19 points in 19 career games against the Sabres. Domi has 8 goals and 11 assists, while Dadonov has 7 goals and 12 assists.
He said it
"I really like him. Great skill, he's a strong player, strong on his feet, strong on the puck, he's not afraid to make plays. He's going to add a lot to our lineup. I like the fit. He's going to add secondary scoring, but also a little bit of a grit factor. People know there is a physical element to his game."
- Stars coach Pete DeBoer when asked his impressions on Domi.
Expected lineup
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Benn-Johnston-Dadonov
Marchment-Domi-Seguin
Kiviranta-Faksa-Dellandrea
Heiskanen-Miller
Lindell-Hakanpää
Suter-Hanley
Oettinger
Murray
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.