J.t. Miller missed his first game with a left wrist injury last night when the Rangers dropped a 3-2 shootout defeat to the Capitals at the Garden.
Miller, 20, had played in 22 straight games since being called up from the Connecticut Whale (AHL) in early February. He said the injury occurred in the second period of Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Panthers, when he pushed off the boards and felt pain in the tendons in his wrist.
He participated in yesterday’s morning skate, but mostly did conditioning drills with assistant coach and assistant general manager Jim Schoenfeld. Miller said the wrist still hurts when he tries to shoot, as it’s the lower hand of his left-handed shot.
Yet when asked if the wrist felt better than Saturday, Miller said, “A little bit.
“It’s still sore. I don’t want to rush anything, so we’ll see what the best move is.”
It was unfortunate timing, as well, considering Miller had created some offense on Thursday with linemates Chris Kreider and Brian Boyle.
“I thought our line played pretty well,” said Miller, whose only two goals came in his Garden debut on Feb. 7. “We created a lot of offense, we didn’t spend much time in the ‘D’ zone.”
Taking his spot on that line was Taylor Pyatt to start, and then when Kreider got bumped up to the top line, Pyatt and Boyle were joined by Marian Gaborik.
* Things remained status quo with speedy Swedish winger Jesper Fast, as he still hasn’t received permission from the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to leave and join the Rangers after his Swedish Elite League team, HV 71, lost in the playoffs. Fast was the Rangers’ 2010 sixth-round pick.
* The Capitals had a golden chance to put the game away on a second-period 5-on-3 man-advantage, with the score tied 2-2.
With stalwart defenseman Dan Girardi in the penalty box after shooting the puck out of the rink and getting called for delay of game, one would have expected his blueline partner Ryan McDonagh to be the lone defenseman on the ice.
Instead it was Michael Del Zotto, and although a bit haphazardly, he was superb in thwarting the dangerous Caps.
“He was all over the map killing the 5-on-3,” coach John Tortorella said, “but he was our best player tonight.” … Defenseman Stu Bickel cleared waivers and was assigned to the Whale.