K'Andre Miller's acrobatic goal illustrates his broad skill set

K’Andre Miller played it cool when he was asked Saturday night if he always knew he had the moves to pull off that electrifying goal he scored in the second period of the Rangers’ 6-3 win over the struggling Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday night .

“That one's in the bag for sure,’’ Miller said of the backhand-forehand move he used to beat Philadelphia goalie Carter Hart to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 9:09 of the second period. “ ’Shesty’ [Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin] lets me work on that one, although it doesn't go in as much on him.’’

Of course, it wasn’t so much the move that made the goal special, as it was the fact that Miller scored after he’d been tripped while speeding in on a breakaway, then, instead of simply staying down and waiting to be awarded a penalty shot, he actually got back up, resumed the breakaway, and beat Hart to score his second goal of the season.

Miller added an assist on defense partner Jacob Trouba’s shorthanded, empty-net goal that put the Rangers up 5-3, and the two points gave him five in his last three games and seven (two goals and five assists) in his last six games, dating to the 6-4 win over St. Louis Dec. 5. That offensive surge coincides with the six-game win streak the Rangers were on entering Sunday’s game in Chicago.

“I’m just playing simple,’’ Miller said of his current stretch. “I think ‘Troubs’ and I have kind of realized since the start of the year that it's been a slow progression. But I think these last couple of games, we've made some big strides, and done little things right to reward ourselves.’’

With two goals and 13 assists (15 points) Miller is the second-leading defenseman scorer on the Rangers, behind Adam Fox. He’s done that without getting any time on the power play, and according to Trouba, who has been his defense partner for almost all of Miller’s three years in the NHL, that’s just part of the 22-year-old’s skill set.

“He's playing good hockey,’’ Trouba said of Miller. “He’s skating, he's getting up the ice, and that's when he's at his best, when you can add the dynamic offensive element to his game. He's such a good skater and [has] such a long reach, and such a great ability. When he plays like that, he's just fun to watch.’’

“He's got a lot of upside . . . there's no doubt about that,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. “And it's just a fine line of joining the rush and making the offensive plays, and playing defense against top players on the other side. He’s picked his spots [to join the rush] right, and that's what I like about him. He reads the play really well.’’

At the morning skate before Saturday's game, Gallant was talking about how all the Rangers’ young players seem to be playing well right now. The Kid Line — 21-year-olds Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko and 23-year-old Filip Chytil — has been surging, and 21-year-old defenseman Braden Schneider also has two goals over the past six games with a plus-5 rating. According to the coach, the youngsters are playing well because their confidence is growing.

“That's what you see with our kids. There's no doubt,’’ he said. “I mean, they're still young players. You know, we try and say, ‘Well, they've been here three years, and they’ve played 150 games,’ whatever it is. But, you know, two of those years have been COVID years. Last year was the first regular year, and they're getting better, they're playing better and getting some results lately.’’

Miller, who turns 23 next month, is one of those young kids. His confidence is growing every day. And it’s showing on the ice.

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.