After long drought, it’s Miller time at Garden
It hadn’t been the best of postseasons for J.T. Miller, but he came up in a huge way on Tuesday. The playmaker dazzled with the way he worked around Senators players to get to the middle and set up Oscar Lindberg at the doorstep for Lindberg’s first playoff goal, the fourth in the Rangers’ 4-1, Game 3 victory.
“It was a great play,” Alain Vigneault said. “He made a couple good plays tonight, not only on that goal but in our zone to get the puck out on a couple of occasions. (Ottawa is) a team that pressures real hard and doesn’t give you a lot of space and time to make plays, so you have to be able to see what’s there and make the play in front of you. I thought he did a good job tonight.”
Miller had noticeable jump and made the most of his 12:02 while playing on the fourth line, working hard in puck battles throughout. All four of the Rangers’ lines produced a goal. as Pavel Buchnevich was a healthy scratch. Glass earned the secondary assist on Lindberg’s goal. “He brings what he brings every time we dress him,” Vigneault said of Glass. “He’s intense and when he gets an opportunity to finish a check, he does. He was able to chip in on Oscar’s goal tonight, so a positive output on his part.” Marc Staal-Nick Holden pair. Skjei played the second-most minutes of all six defensemen at 20:13 behind Ryan McDonagh’s 26:52. Dan Girardi played an even 20 minutes while Smith played 19:39. Staal was plus-2 in 16:17 and Holden played 14:29.