DENVER — Coach Alain Vigneault did not mince words when asked what J.T. Miller — demoted on Thursday to the AHL Wolf Pack for the sixth different time this season — needs to do in order to secure a spot with the Rangers.
“He just hasn’t earned the right to be at this level on a regular basis,” Vigneault said before the Rangers’ 3-2 shootout defeat to the Avalanche on Thursday night. “He needs to show more commitment on the ice and off. Until he does that, he hasn’t earned the right.”
Miller, the club’s first-round selection (and 15th overall) in the 2011 Entry Draft, played two games following his latest recall that was prompted by Chris Kreider’s hand injury. He was benched for the third period of last Friday’s game in Calgary after twice firing shots wide on rushes that allowed the Flames to create odd-man rushes through the neutral zone off of easy breakouts.
The 21-year-old has recorded six points (three goals, three assists) in 30 games overall for the Blueshirts after getting four points (two goals, two assists) in 26 games a year ago in his first pro season.
“J.T. has to figure it out and hopefully he will,” Vigneault said. “When he does, we’re going to have a good player. If he doesn’t, he will be a good minor league player.”
John Moore, who returned to the lineup after being sidelined for six games while recovering from a concussion he sustained March 21 in Columbus, gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead by beating Semyon Varlamov from 50 feet at 2:10 of the first period.
After Andre Benoit tied it at 5:57 of the second on a two-on-one, Derek Stepan scored at 15:30, beating Varlamov from the left circle after lugging the puck up the ice from his own end.
The Rangers are 7-1-1 in their last nine and 10-4-2 since the trade deadline. The point Thursday increased the Blueshirts’ lead to four points over the Flyers for second place in the Metro and first-round home ice, though Philadelphia holds two games in hand.
“Once we get a check mark next to our name [for clinching a playoff spot], we’ll work at the opportunity to get home ice,” Vigneault said. “The first goal is to get the check mark. … Hopefully we can do that on Saturday.”