JT Miller, with four points in his first two games back with the New York Rangers, is once again showing the NHL why he’s that guy.
Miller led the Rangers’ third-period comeback on Sunday. He assisted on two of the Rangers’ three goals in the final frame as they beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4–2 — a massive bounceback after multiple defensive blunders cost them the first half of their weekend back-to-back Saturday, as they fell to the Boston Bruins 6–3 on the road.
Sunday’s win was also the 400th of goaltender Jonathan Quick’s career. Quick is the first American goaltender to achieve 400 wins in the NHL, and the 15th goaltender in league history to do so. He made 34 saves against the Golden Knights.
How Miller helped the Rangers overpower the Golden Knights
Miller was the Rangers’ most impactful player in his first two games back in New York. His three points on the man advantage in his Rangers renaissance has rejuvenated the club’s power play. He tied Will Cuylle for a team-high five hits on Sunday.
The Rangers looked alive as the game progressed — it’s not a stretch to call this the JT Miller effect. He looked like the player who dragged the Vancouver Canucks to Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs last year.
“We’re in a desperate position,” said Miller. “We don’t really have time to wait and see what happens. A lot of games are going to be like that coming down the stretch.”
On the Rangers’ tying goal, which he assisted on, Miller curled around the top of the left offensive zone faceoff circle. He received a pass from Artemi Panarin at the point, then snapped it on goal. Mika Zibanejad, playing in his 900th career game, cleaned up the rebound for his 10th goal of the season.
“He plays with a lot of intensity,” Zibanejad said of Miller. “I like the way he talks a lot on the bench. He talks a lot on the ice. He has a lot of ideas and it’s good because the communication makes it a lot easier, especially early on when we haven’t played together for a long time.”
Miller has taken this shot — and excelled — many times in Vancouver. Last year, he scored 12 goals from this part of the ice.
#NYR Miller’s shot totals in the offensive zone by location, 2023–24 (left) and 2024–25 (right).
Of his 16 goals that came from mid-range last year, 12 came from the left side. pic.twitter.com/D4X5sdmvGO
— Miles Bolton (@milesbolt) February 3, 2025
Head coach Peter Laviolette elected to keep the Panarin-Miller-Zibanejad line together for a second straight game. They combined for eight points on Sunday.
“We were looking for some pop going out there in the second period, and he drove it to the net and just got into some scuffles and mixed it up,” Laviolette said. “We needed more of that. We needed to get involved in the game.
“Sometimes you gotta get dragged in there a bit, and I think he’s really good at that.”
Miller’s electric debut
If Miller had any fatigue from his 4 a.m. ET arrival on Saturday, he didn’t show it. Taking the ice wearing Jacob Trouba’s old No. 8, Miller skated on the Rangers’ top line with Panarin and Zibanejad, and New York’s top power play unit. He scored twice in the 6–3 loss. He led the Rangers with six shots and played 18:48.
“I’m definitely excited,” Miller told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan during the first intermission. “It’s been a long two days, but it’s really special putting this jersey back on, and obviously felt good to get one, but kind of numb right now, so I’m just gonna take it and try to enjoy it.”
From the opening shift, Miller was dialled in. He created a turnover in the opening minute, which led to a scoring chance. He read the play well and was positionally strong. He backchecked hard — something he did inconsistently in Vancouver this season. He wasn’t afraid to go to the dirty areas. He drove to the net on the rush. He didn’t shy away from the netfront position on the man advantage.
Miller was rewarded with the game-tying goal at 10:55 of the first period. A Brandon Carlo clearing attempt hit Panarin and bounced to Miller in the middle of the ice, where he took one of his patented one-timers, which sailed past the glove of Bruins goaltender Jeremny Swayman. The goal extended Miller’s point streak as a Ranger to three games, which spans over 2,500 days.
Miller’s sweet spot is mid-range shooting. He’s previously excelled from this part of the offensive zone, where he shot 25% a season ago, scoring 16 goals. As of Saturday, his shooting percentage from this zone had regressed to 13.8%. If the Rangers give him the opportunity to re-discover his scoring touch, he could be deadly.
Miller will be counted on to provide a big boost to New York’s slumping power play, which is ranked 21st in the NHL. He made an immediate impact on Saturday. Miller initially replaced the slumping Chris Kreider — who hasn’t scored a power play goal since Dec. 30, 2024 — on the top unit. For the third period, the Rangers swapped Kreider back in on the first power play unit for Vincent Trocheck.
Miller scored his second goal of the game 35 seconds into the third period, displaying heads-up positioning on the power play.
#NYR J.T. Miller’s second goal comes on a power play deflection in front of the net — his third PPG of the season.
Kreider, replacing Trocheck on PP1, makes a nice feed to Zibanejad, who finds Miller in front of the net.pic.twitter.com/GmqcLIASBu
— Miles Bolton (@milesbolt) February 2, 2025
As the Rangers controlled the puck in the offensive zone and Kreider fed a wide-open Zibanejad, Miller stepped out from his position at the side of the net. Two of the Bruins’ penalty killers — Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov — both went to Zibanejad, who found Miller unmarked in front of the net.
“I thought he was excellent,” Laviolette said of Miller’s debut prior to Sunday’s game against the Golden Knights. “He was good. There was a lot of information being thrown at him, not a lot of rest, a lot of travel, everything new, but he seemed to handle it like a pro.”
This type of heads-up hockey had been missing from Miller in Vancouver this season. If he can consistently replicate this level of play, he’ll remain a great fit for the Rangers, who desperately need an emotional leader like Miller if they wish to make a playoff push.
Rangers’ defensive miscues prove costly against Bruins
The Bruins scored multiple goals Saturday as a result of the Rangers’ poor defensive play.
Take, for example, David Pastrnak’s goal at 17:09 of the first period that put the Bruins up 2–1.
On this play, Adam Fox played Bruins center Matthew Poitras softly, allowing Poitras to spin away from him behind the Rangers’ net. As Poitras threw the puck in front of the net, Pastrnak, Boston’s star goal-scorer, was alone. Ryan Lindgren and Sam Carrick had come down low, and Adam Edstrom was too slow coming back to pick up Pastrnak.
Lindgren was partially responsible for the Bruins’ 3–1 goal early in the second period. As the Bruins gained the zone, he took Charlie Coyle, who went to the front of the net. Lindgren had Coyle briefly boxed out at the side of the net, but the Bruins’ forward spun around to get away from the check. He tipped Andrew Peeke’s point shot down and past Igor Shesterkin.
The Rangers allowed the Bruins, who have the league’s third-worst power play, to score two goals on the man advantage Saturday — the first time this season that has happened.
Entering Saturday, the Rangers were the only team in the NHL without a multi-goal comeback this season. Late in the game, they displayed why. They pulled Igor Shesterkin ahead of an offensive zone draw with 3:30 remaining. They lost the draw and immediately let Pastrnak skate the puck into the empty net as he completed the hat trick.
For a Rangers club that sat four games out of a Wild Card spot entering Saturday’s game with 32 games remaining, these mistakes cannot happen.
