NHL

J.T. Miller’s return to Rangers lineup may be make-or-break

It was one game from the press box for J.T. Miller, one game both he and his coach, Alain Vigneault, hope will be enough.

The Rangers enigmatic young forward returned to the lineup on Wednesday night at the Garden, facing off against his boyhood rooting interest, the Penguins.

Miller, 20, was a healthy scratch for Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Ducks, and has just one point, an assist, in nine games this season.

“You have to believe that he’s real excited and motivated to be in the NHL, real excited and motivated to stay in the NHL and become a regular contributor to a good team,” Vigneault said Wednesday morning about Miller, who grew up a die-hard Penguins fan in East Palestine, Ohio. “I think that should summarize it. So if tonight he gets a little bit more excited because he’s playing against Pittsburgh, then it’ll be great for us.”

Vigneault played Mashinter just 2:50 against the Ducks, and said part of his reason for putting Miller back in was because he was going to have to roll four lines against the explosive Penguins. It could be a make-or-break game for Miller, who is teetering on the verge of going back to AHL Hartford.

“Every player is getting assessed for their contribution, their role on the team and what they’re supposed to do,” Vigneault said. “We’re still trying to sort that out with J.T. Hopefully tonight he has a good game, a strong game at both ends of the rink, and we’ll see where he fits in and where he helps us win some games.”

Miller had a tough game his last time out, making some bad turnovers in a 5-1 win over the Hurricanes. After some trouble early in the game, the problems seemed to compound and he struggled to regain his confidence.

“You can’t let the game get too mental out there,” Miller said after the team’s very optional morning skate at the Garden. “You have to forget about the shift before no matter what happened. Just have to worry about your next shift is all you can do.”

After playing 26 games for the Rangers last season, Miller also knows his time here is predicated on how he plays not just Wednesday night, but every game going forward.

“You have to be consistent to stay here,” Miller said. “As a younger guy, consistency is a huge part. Just trying not to stray away from my role, just trying to play simple hockey, but play hard and provide energy every night. I know what I have to do.

“I take every game as if it’s my last,” he continued. “Just have to play within the system, play hard and try to make plays. Try to stay relaxed and try to focus as much as I can.”


Henrik Lundqvist will be making his fourth straight start in the Rangers nets, his 12th start of the first 15 games. It’s more than likely backup Cam Talbot will play the second game of this back-to-back on Thursday night in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.


Fourth-line center Dominic Moore resumed skating on Wednesday morning, though he will miss his fourth straight game due to an oblique strain. He sustained the injury on a first-period faceoff against the Islanders on Oct. 29.

Moore didn’t know if he would travel with the team to Columbus, but it’s doubtful. Vigneault said Moore is still “a week to 10 days” away from returning.


The team had “nothing” in terms of an update on Rick Nash and his concussion. Nash has been out since being hit in the head by Brad Stuart the third game of the season Oct. 8 in San Jose.

The team denied a report published earlier in the week that Nash was skating at the team’s practice facility. They said he was there, but has not resumed workouts.