Miller finally makes mark
The Rangers were already in complete command of the game they positively had to have, up 3-0 late in the second period.
But still, the highlightreel play of their 4-1 Game 3 victory over the Senators at the Garden was the gem that J.T. Miller turned in with 1:43 remaining in the period.
It was a play the Rangers had been waiting for Miller to make all postseason. He had been conspicuously quiet in the playoffs after posting a career-best 22 goals and 56 points in the regular season.
That all changed with his spectacular effort late in the second when Miller skated the puck into the Senators’ zone, slowed up to allow some support to join him, left two Senators players sprawled on the ice with some nifty stick handling, outmuscled and out-maneuvered Ottawa defenseman Mike Hoffman and delivered the perfect pass to Oscar Lindberg.
Lindberg, loitering at the back door of Craig Anderson’s crease, onetimed Miller’s pass past the Ottawa keeper for a 4-0 Rangers lead.
“I’m just happy to chip in when I can and help the team,’’ Miller said. “It’s not about me, it’s about winning that game and getting back on track.’’
The Rangers are back on track and so, too, is Miller.
“It’s a good sign for us,’’ Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said of Miller’s performance. “He’s been doing a lot of things off the score sheet as far as helping us win games. He’s a physical force out there, tough to take the puck off of — like on that goal. He spins off his guy, hangs onto the puck, uses patience to find the open guy.
“Hopefully, this really jump-starts him and continues his strong play for us.’’
Making the Miller effort even more impressive was the fact that it came at the end of a shift and after the Rangers had iced the puck twice. Asked after the game how he was able to come up with that effort on the goal after being so gassed from the shift, Miller said, “I have no idea.’’
Lindberg, who scored his first career playoff goal on the play, was the beneficiary of Miller’s strong effort.
“It was a great play by ‘Millsy’ and I had a pretty open backdoor there, so it was nice to put it in,’’ Lindberg said. “I thought he was going to shoot it early, but he was strong on the puck and was able to walk it in, so I tried to back off and try to create
some space.’’