Rangers mixing it up a bit at blue line
K'Andre Miller #79 of the New York Rangers skates against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022 in Elmont, New York. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It’s been pretty much a steady rise for K’Andre Miller from Day 1 of his rookie year till now, a month into his third season with the Rangers. But Saturday’s game in Dallas wasn’t his best day.
Miller and his defense partner, captain Jacob Trouba, were split up for portions of the third period of the Rangers’ 6-3 win over the Stars, after the duo had struggled over the first two periods. The pair had been on ice for all three goals-against, and Miller finished minus-3 in a game the Rangers won by three goals.
“I knew I was playing bad,’’ Miller said at Tuesday’s morning skate before the Rangers played the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden. “You know, when the pucks aren't going your way, the bounces aren't going your way, it's hard to bounce back. So I think it was more of just a learning experience for myself, and you know, you're not going to have your best night every night. So I think it was just one of those days.’’
Miller ended up playing with Braden Schneider, and Trouba partnered with Zac Jones, and things worked out just fine for the Rangers. Jones scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal and the Rangers scored two goals in 19 seconds to pull away for the win, ending a four-game winless streak.
Schneider said he was “surprised’’ to get the call to partner with Miller. But he said the experience was good.
“I played a couple of shifts with him here and there after a penalty kill, or after a power play and stuff. And he's awesome,’’ Schneider said of Miller. “He talks a lot. He moves the puck really well. He's always up. So, it's fun to watch him in the first place, but to play with him and be alongside that, it's pretty cool.’’
Miller, 22, said he didn’t consider himself to be the “veteran’’ when he was partnered with Schneider – “I don't feel like that at all,’’ he said. “I still feel young.’’ – but Schneider, 21, said he definitely saw Miller as the senior partner when they were together.
The change was only temporary, though. On Sunday night in Arizona, Miller and Trouba were back together against the Coyotes, and the pair was on the ice for the first Rangers goal – Miller got the secondary assist on the goal scored by Alexis Lafrenière – and no goals-against in the Rangers’ 3-2 victory.
On the season, the pair of Miller and Trouba has effectively been the top pair for the Rangers, slightly ahead of Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren. Before Tuesday’s game, they had played a total of 155 minutes and 51 seconds together in five-on-five situations, according to the analytics site Natural Stat Trick, and 183:46 in all situations, compared to the 141:16 at five-on-five, and 163:10 that Fox and Lindgren had played together.
At five-on-five, the Rangers have outshot the opposition 97-66 with Miller-Trouba on the ice, compared to 76-62 with Fox-Lindgren, though the Fox-Lindgren pair has been on ice for four goals for and five against, while Miller-Trouba has been on for five and 10 against.
Fox led the Rangers in ice time among skaters with an average of 24:14 per game, but 4:42 of that was power play time. Miller actually led the team in ice time at even strength, with an average of 19:23, compared to Trouba’s 18:38 and Fox’s 17:35. The ice time is an indication of just how highly the Rangers regard Miller.
Veteran forward Ryan Reaves has high expectations for Miller this season.
“I thought ‘Key’ took some huge steps and he's going to be a top 15 defenseman [in the NHL] this year,’’ Reaves said.
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.
