. We werent necessarily counting on

VANCOUVER - Ryan Miller took time Friday morning to catch up with some old friends on the Buffalo Sabres.Then he went out and helped send his former team to its 14th straight loss.The veteran goalie stopped 20 shots and Chris Higgins snapped out of a long slump with a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Canucks defeated Buffalo 5-2.Miller spent more than a decade with the Sabres organization, but was dealt to the St. Louis Blues before last seasons trade deadline with Buffalo in full rebuild mode.Im not going to lie, it was a little bit weird looking down the ice and seeing that jersey, said Miller, who signed with Vancouver as a free agent in July. But it just turns into a hockey game and you want to win, you want to compete. It was nice to get that win.Bo Horvat, Yannick Weber, Nick Bonino and Radim Vrbata, into an empty net, had the other goals for Vancouver (27-17-3). Christopher Tanev and Henrik Sedin each added two assists as the Canucks snapped a two-game slide that included a 4-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.Chris Stewart scored twice on the power play for NHL-worst Buffalo (14-33-3), which failed to pick up a single point in January and has not won on the road since late November.When things go bad, things go bad, said Sabres head coach Ted Nolan. Every time we make a mistake it seems to be in our net. When things are like that, thats what usually happens.After the visitors grabbed a 1-0 lead on Stewarts first of the night, Horvat scored his fourth by banging a rebound past Buffalo third-string goalie Matt Hackett — who made 33 saves in his first start of the season — with 24 seconds left in opening period to send the teams to the locker-rooms tied.The goal was Vancouvers first at home in 195 minutes 57 seconds— a stretch of nearly 10 periods.I think that was really important, said Horvat. We were feeling good about ourselves. It helped our confidence as a team and got the guys going.The Canucks then surged ahead with power-play goals 2:36 apart early in the second that snapped an ugly 2 for 29 stretch with the man advantage. Weber scored his fourth of the season at 1:43 before Bonino swatted home his 11th at 4:19.Its the nice shots that dont go in (and) the greasy, ugly rebounds that do, said Bonino. You have to go to the net, thats where you have to go to score goals. I was happy that one went in.Vancouver had a number of chances to stretch that lead further, but Stewart scored his second of the evening and ninth of the season when a centring pass from the side of the net deflected in off Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis at 14:16.Miller made his best save of the night on a Drew Stafford breakaway a few minutes later to keep the Canucks ahead 3-2 through two periods, and Higgins put things out of reach with his seventh of the season at 5:31 of the third by finishing off a nice passing play with the teams playing 4 on 4.The goal snapped a 12-game drought for Higgins and was his just his second in the last 23.It feels good. Obviously its been a while, said Higgins. The games not all about scoring, but I think I have to produce at a better clip for our team to go a long way this year.Its a special group here so it feels good to contribute.Notes: Vrbatas empty netter in the final minute was his 19th goal of the season. ... With both Derek Dorsett and Brad Richardson out with injuries up front for the Canucks, Ronalds Kenins made his NHL debut.——Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter Fake Vans Old Skool . Diego Costa headed in Gabis corner seven minutes from time to secure victory ahead of the return match in Madrid on March 11. "We know that at Madrid it will be another game, which will also be important and very difficult," Milan coach Clarence Seedorf said. Fake Vans Free Shiping .Just like old times.Only this time, just one got to enjoy a victory.James return to Miami as an opponent was a success — for the Heat, that is. Wade scored 24 of his 31 points in the first half, Luol Deng had 25 points and dogged James defensively all night, and the Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 in a hyped Christmas matchup Thursday. http://www.fakevans.com/ . While Chelsea stayed two points behind leader Arsenal courtesy of Etoos hat trick, seventh-place United slipped 14 points from the summit this weekend. And the gap from the Champions League places is growing as well, with Liverpool six points ahead in fourth. Fake Vans Outlet . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Fake Vans Store . Thats how the Ravens won when Ryan was their defensive co-ordinator from 2005-08, and that is precisely the formula Baltimore used to beat Ryans New York Jets on Sunday.DENVER -- LaTroy Hawkins is returning to the Colorado Rockies and the veteran reliever may just possibly wind up as their closer. Hawkins agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal on Tuesday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal has yet to be announced and is still pending a physical. The right-hander played an integral role in the bullpen for Colorado in 2007, when the Rockies made their only run to the World Series before being swept by the Boston Red Sox. Hawkins, who turns 41 in December, will be in contention for the closer role with left-hander Rex Brothers, who stepped in last season after Rafael Betancourt got hurt and finished with 19 saves. The Rockies also like the hard-throwing Brothers as a set-up man in the eighth inning. Hawkins spent last season with the New York Mets, going 3-2 with a 2.93 ERA and 13 saves in 70 2-3 innings. The Mets tried to keep him and made an offer. "Were happy for him. He did a great job for us last year," Mets GM Sandy Alderson said. "Was a terrific part of the team, in the cluubhouse, as well as his role on the field.dddddddddddd We wish him well. "Hes 41 years old. We werent necessarily counting on him to fill the same role for us next year. We certainly would have liked to have him in the pen, but going into the spring, I think that, again, given kind of the vagaries of relief pitching anyway and his age and what we had coming, it wasnt clear what his role would be." USA Today first reported the agreement. On his Twitter account Tuesday, Hawkins posted a thank you to the Mets organization and fans. He closed his tweet with, "Now off to BowHunting." Earlier this month, the Rockies took a big step toward keeping their bullpen intact as right-handed reliever Matt Belisle and the team exercised their mutual option for 2014. The bullpen had a 4.23 ERA in 2012. Colorado also exercised the club option on left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa, who was solid on the mound last season as he finished 16-6 with a 3.49 ERA. De La Rosa is scheduled to make $11 million next year. The Rockies are coming off a season in which they finished last in the NL West with a 74-88 record. ' ' '