J.T. Miller’s Eastern Conference finals debut didn’t go as planned.
Filling in for the suspended Dan Carcillo, Miller left the Rangers 3-2 Game 4 overtime victory over the Canadiens at the Garden with an injured right arm after hitting the Montreal net in the second period when he tried to avoid goalie Dustin Tokarski and was slammed by Andrei Markov. He didn’t return.
Miller was physically able to play, but coach Alain Vigneault opted to keep him on the bench since he had missed so much of the game and was out of the flow.
It was hardly what the Rangers needed, already without Carcillo, who is appealing his 10-game ban for making contact with a linesman in Game 3 and Derek Stepan (fractured jaw).
Even before suffering the injury, Miller hadn’t been able to contribute, as he made his first impact Sunday on the negative side. He was called for an ill-advised interference penalty at 4:09 of the opening period.
He ended up playing just 3:09 — not exactly what he expected after morning skate, when Miller insisted he wasn’t affected by not having played since May 5 against Pittsburgh.
“No matter what else is going on, you’ve got to be prepared to play and contribute because you never know what’s going to happen,” Miller said. “Someone could get hurt or something else could happen.”
The absence of Carcillo and Stepan led the Rangers to call upon Miller, who appeared in three playoff game in the first two rounds, scoring a goal and adding a pair of assists.
Especially after Miller had trouble just sticking on the NHL roster during the regular season. He was demoted to AHL Hartford in early April and Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault was honest in his assessment at the time, saying he wasn’t showing enough “commitment.”
More recently, Vigneault has been more satisfied with Miller’s performance, but Sunday night, he certainly didn’t make the Rangers forget Carcillo or Stepan.