After 17 days of Olympic hockey, the NHL returns to action tonight with a make-up game between the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes. Mauro Icardi Inter Milan Maglia . And theres plenty of intrigue surrounding the game as all eyes are focused on what the Sabres may or may not do with goaltender Ryan Miller going into the trade deadline. Miller, who kept his habit of not talking to reporters after the game day skate, is in the final year of his contract and could opt to leave Buffalo via free agency over the summer. The 33-year-old served as backup to Jonathan Quick for Team USA in February and he could make the difference for a playoff hopeful team down the stretch. The rebuilding club is mulling over whether or not to deal the star netminder - or perhaps even re-sign him - before March 5. Like Miller, Sabres forward Steve Ott is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent over the summer, and, unless Buffalo is able to sign Ott to an extension, his days in Buffalo could be numbered as well. "Obviously I told them I want to be here," Ott recently told his clubs official web site. "Well see where it all goes. Im professional enough to know the business side of things as well and what the situation is here as well. Well see how it all plays out in the next two weeks or so." Buffalo ended its pre-Olympic schedule on a four-game losing streak and it will try to halt that 0-4-0 stretch tonight. With its win last month in Buffalo, the Hurricanes have won two straight and four of their past five games in western New York. Carolina has claimed four in a row and five of six in the series overall. Buffalo is beginning a three-game homestand tonight, but that is hardly a consolation for a club that has lost eight straight as the host. All told, the Sabres are 9-17-5 as the home team this season. The Sabres also will be in action on Wednesday night when they host the Boston Bruins. This contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 7 before wintry weather forced that meeting to be postponed until tonight. The clubs met once after that postponement when the Hurricanes notched a 5-3 win in Buffalo on Jan. 23. Alexander Semin had two goals in Carolinas triumph, while Anton Khudobin -- the NHLs First Star for January -- turned aside 26-of-29 shots. Khudobin could hold the key to getting Carolina back to the postseason for the first time since the spring of 2009. The 27-year-old Russian is turning heads in his first season in Raleigh and has clearly outplayed longtime No. 1 backstop Cam Ward in 2013-14. Khudobin entered the Olympic break with a 19-13-6 record, 2.14 goals against average and a .927 save percentage. Ward, meanwhile, is 6-7-5 with a 3.15 GAA and .895 save percentage. Carolina enters tonight three points out of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, and Khudobin could make a positive difference for the club down the stretch. Although Khudobin helped the Canes win six of their last nine games before the break, the club did find itself on the losing end in three of its final five tests prior to the Olympics. "Its a restart button for everybody," said Hurricanes head coach Kirk Muller of the time off. "Its a great opportunity for everyone to take a deep breath and use this break mentally and physically. Our goal is to make the playoffs, and were going to need everybody." Carolina was 2-2-0 on a four-game homestand that completed the teams pre- Olympics schedule and the club will emerge from the hiatus to begin a five- game road trip. The Hurricanes are just 11-10-4 as the visiting team this season. Miranda Inter Milan Maglia . And as he walked into Progressive Field, a ballpark known as The Jake when he played in Cleveland the first time, Thome was flooded with memories of former teammates, games and Octobers past. Stevan Jovetic Maglia . Now they know theyll have home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.KANSAS CITY - Sporting Kansas City returns to action for the first time in two weeks as the club gets set to take on the Montreal Impact at Sporting Park on Saturday. You can listen to the action on TSN Radio 690 Montreal beginning at 8:30pm et. Sportings last outing was a 0-0 draw with Real Salt Lake two weeks ago in a rematch of last seasons MLS Cup final, while Montreal is still searching for its first win of the 2014 campaign after playing to its third successive draw last weekend, a 1-1 stalemate with Chicago. Montreal lost its first three games to begin the season, but has rebounded to take three points from its last three matches. And although the team sits on the bottom of the Eastern Conference and has yet to record a win this season, goalkeeper Troy Perkins is encouraged by the last three results. "Everybody seems to see the negative, but the reality is weve gotten points in our last three games," Perkins said. "Were unbeaten, its still early in the season and were getting points, so we keep moving forward." In the Impacts last game, the club got a goal from Jack McInerney in the 43rd minute to take the lead on the Fire with McInerney scoring in his debut following a trade that sent Andrew Wenger to the Philadelphia Union in exchange for the 21-year-old. But McInerneys debut was spoiled by a second-half goal from Chicagos Quincy Amarikwa, forcing Montreal to settle for a point. The Impact wont be expected to pick up their first win on Saturday, but Perkins feels that the atmosphere in Kansas City will force his team to raise its level on play and that Saturdays contest will be a greeat test. Geoffrey Kondogbia Inter Milan Maglia. "You go to places like that and it demands that you step up your game," said Perkins of Montreals trip to Kansas City. "As professional athletes, you want to prove yourself against the best. You have to play at a higher level. You want to be tested. Its a high energy environment and I love playing those types of games." Sporting will be pleased to have some extra rest ahead of the match, but it wont do any good for defender Ike Opara, who is likely to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Opara made a career-high 18 appearances last season after joining Sporting from San Jose in midseason, but now head coach Peter Vermes will have to replace the 25-year-old along the back line. One player who Vermes can rely upon is goalkeeper Erik Kronberg, who is making the most of his first season as the starting netminder after spending eight years as the number two, first to Kevin Hartman and then Jimmy Nielsen. "It always is tough for players like that to be able to follow in somebody elses footsteps," Vermes said of Kronbergs emergence this season. "But I truly believe that hes starting to forge his own path, and I think people are starting to see that he has qualities that are important to our team as well. Hes going to continue to grow as a keeper, and thats what we need him to do." The 0-0 draw with RSL marked Kronbergs second clean sheet of the season in the five games he has started, while Montreal will hope to replicate the success it had against Sporting last term when the Impact won two of the three meetings between the sides. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '
