Tape-measure blast for Miller

The Rangers might have had soome complaints about the officiiating in the past few games, buut the only anger for this gaffe wwas internal.

Forward J.T. Miller got a match peenalty after he got into a fight wwith the Devils’ Sergey Kalinin wwith one second remaining in thhe second period of a 52 New Jeersey win on Tuesday night at Prrudential Center. Miller earned thhe penalty because he got into thhe fight with tape on his right haand, and in the fight he cut Kaliniin on the nose.

It wasn’t exactly “putting on thhe foil,” as made famous in the mmovie “Slap Shot,” but it was still cllearly illegal. As stated in Rule 466.15: “Any player wearing tape or anny other material on his hands (bbelow the wrist) who cuts or in jures an opponent during an altercation will receive a match penalty.”

There was some confusion on the benches as the period ended, and the Rangers were able to kill off the nearly fiveminute major that started the third period. But after the game, coach Alain Vigneault thought it was rather clear.

“It’s the call in the book,” Vigneault said. “If you’ve got tape above your wrist and the guy gets cut, it’s an automatic match penalty.”

The only discrepancy — evidenced by head trainer Jim Ramsay vehemently yelling at the officials from the bench — would be exactly what constitutes the wrist. Miller didn’t have tape over his knuckles, just on the other side of his thumb.

“I think there is a little difference of opinion on the height of a wrist, between our medical staff and what the referee saw,” Vigneault said.

Rookie defenseman Brady Skjei, 21, was recalled from AHL Hartford on Tuesday morning and played his third career NHL game. He played 22:17 paired mostly with Kevin Klein.

“I thought he played all right,” Vigneault said. “You can see that he can skate, he’s got a good skill level. Unfortunately, as a team, we didn’t play real well in front of him.”

Skjei likely will be sent back down Wednesday, saving money and readying for the probable returns of injured defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal, both set to make the upcoming twogame road trip starting Thursday night in St. Louis.