K'Andre Miller out for Rangers vs. Maple Leafs for personal reasons

When Adam Fox was out of the lineup for 10 games last month, the Rangers were able to find a way to win games without their best defenseman, going 7-2-1 during his absence.

When they play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden Tuesday, the Blueshirts will have to find a way to play without another one of their top defensemen, K’Andre Miller, who missed the game due to personal reasons.

“We’ve got seven good ‘D,’ so I think everyone else will be ready to play,’’ defenseman Braden Schneider said after the Rangers’ morning skate at the Garden. “Obviously [Miller]'s a guy that plays a lot of minutes for us, so you’ve got to build your game and make sure you're sharp and playing hard… With Foxy out, we rallied, and [against Toronto] we'll rally the same, I hope.’’

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette declined to answer the questions of when he found out he would not have Miller available, nor whether he was certain the 6-5 defenseman’s absence would only be for one game.

“Right now, it’s just personal reasons for ‘Key,’’’ he said. “We'll just keep it at that.’’

Miller, 23, has averaged the second-most ice time of any skater for the Rangers at 22 minutes and 11 seconds (his defense partner, Jacob Trouba, led the team with an average time on ice of 22:34 entering Tuesday). His five goals were most among defensemen, and three of them were game-winners.

For Trouba, who has played with Miller almost the entire four years Miller has been in the league, Miller’s absence meant he'll have to play with a different partner. That most likely would be veteran Erik Gustafsson, though Laviolette wasn’t willing to confirm that at the morning skate. Gustafsson and Trouba spent a few minutes near the end of the skate working on D-to-D passes inside the offensive blue line, which might be an indication they're preparing to partner for the game.

“There's a good chance that happens,’’ Laviolette said. “We're working through it… we're still having meetings.’’

Gustafsson, 31, was the one who stepped up and filled Fox’s role when he was on long-term injured reserve with a lower body injury. The Rangers didn’t miss a beat, even though Gustafsson, a left-handed shot, had to slide over to the right to play the right side where Fox normally plays when partnered with Ryan Lindgren. In this case, since Miller is a lefthanded shot, Gustafsson would be playing his natural left side with Trouba, who plays on the right.

Gustafsson also moved up to play with Fox when Lindgren missed the second game of the season in Columbus with an upper-body injury.

Miller’s absence also opens a spot for Zac Jones to step into the lineup. Jones, who has been the seventh defenseman all season, is the only healthy extra the Rangers are carrying on the roster. He played in the 10 games that Fox missed and has played in 11 games overall this season, having three assists.

Assuming Gustafsson does move up to play with Trouba, then Jones would take over his regular spot next to Schneider on the third defense pair. Schneider had partnered with Jones in all 11 games he played before Tuesday.

“I’ve got an understanding of Zac's game, and he's got an understanding of mine,’’ Schneider said. So I think we can read off each other pretty well.’’

Missing Miller also meant the Rangers are going to be without their No. 3 penalty-killing defenseman. Trouba and Lindgren partner on the first defense pair out on the penalty kill, and Miller usually partners with Fox on the second pair. Schneider normally is the fifth penalty-killing defenseman, but since he is a righthanded shot, that means whenever he has to play with Fox on the second pair, that pair has two righthanded shots.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.