Rangers' K'Andre Miller eager to make up for lost time

MONTREAL — As the media mob swarmed around Patrick Kane Thursday following the Rangers’ optional morning skate at Bell Centre, K’Andre Miller sat at the other side of the room, taking his gear off in relative peace and quiet.

While Kane, the newest Ranger, was set to face the Canadiens Thursday for the first time as a Blueshirt, Miller was about to play his first game for the Rangers after serving a three-game suspension for spitting at Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.

And the 23-year-old defenseman couldn’t wait.

“Heck yeah,’’ Miller said, when asked if he was excited to make his return. “I've been locked away for, it feels like, months. It's good. I got some good workouts in,  conditioning is up, so I'm feeling really good going into this game.’’

As good as Miller felt re-entering the lineup, coach Gerard Gallant was happy to have him back, as it meant the Rangers would dress six defensemen for the first time in four games and would finally have a full lineup, with 18 skaters and two goalies.

Because of their salary-cap situation after the Kane trade, as well as a shoulder injury suffered by Ryan Lindgren Feb. 25 in Washington, the Rangers had been forced to play with five defensemen for all three games Miller was out. And in their last game, Saturday against Boston, they were down a forward, too, with Tyler Motte unavailable because of injury, and the NHL refusing to allow them an emergency call-up for the game.

The league did grant the Rangers an emergency call-up for Thursday, and so Jonny Brodzinski was up from AHL Hartford to fill Motte’s spot, giving them the full complement of 12 forwards and six defensemen.

“Yeah, I'm happy. I mean, it's a regular lineup,’’ Gallant said.

Gallant refused to blame the Rangers’ 2-5-1 skein on the lineup being shorthanded following the complicated roster maneuvering surrounding the deal for Kane. But getting Miller back certainly made them better. With six goals and 24 assists (30 points), Miller was the team’s second-leading scorer among defensemen (behind Adam Fox). And his average ice time of 21 minutes, 56 seconds was second on the team, also behind Fox. So not having him  at the same time Lindgren was out was a major blow.

“He's obviously a really, really big player for our group,’’ defenseman Ben Harpur said of Miller. “He plays big minutes. They were using him on the power play a bit, he’s a big penalty killer, and . . . having those three lines [of defensemen] I think really take some of the pressure off the top-end minute guys that really need that rest.’’

Miller said it “definitely wasn't an easy thing’’ to leave the team shorthanded, but he was hoping in a silver-lining-in-a-cloud way, that being forced to sit out three games might benefit him in the long run.

“I think the last couple of games before I got suspended, I was getting a little bit away from my game,’’ he said. “So — I don’t want to say it like this — but the time off was, not needed, but it was a good reset to get back to the basics, and feeling the puck a little bit more, [and] sharpening up for this last run.’’

Miller had been struggling in the games before the suspension. In the five games before the Kings game, during which he was ejected near the end of the first period, he had no points and was a minus-6. And he knew his game was not right.

“I would say you definitely feel when you are a little ‘off,’ not as sharp,’’ he said. “So like I said, it's a good reset, and a good opportunity to reset my body and mind and get back to the game.’’

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.