Key takeaways as Rangers top Canucks 2-0 in Miller’s return to Vancouver
J.T. Miller’s return to Vancouver with the New York Rangers ended with a tribute from his old team and a victory for his new one.
Miller, who was acquired by the Rangers from the Canucks on Jan. 31 and named the 29th captain in franchise history during training camp, didn’t hit the score sheet in his first game back at Rogers Arena on Tuesday. He finished with two shots on goal and was credited with one hit. But his 11 wins on 15 face-offs helped the Rangers put a lid on the Canucks’ offense, and Jonathan Quick did the rest by stopping all 23 shots he faced in a 2-0 victory that ended New York’s three-game slide.
“I had a lot of nerves,” Miller said of returning to the place he called home for nearly six seasons; he was honored with a tribute video during the first media timeout. “It’s an emotional game, for sure. It actually went better than I thought.”
Mika Zibanejad finished off a 2-on-1 with Will Cuylle by beating Thatcher Demko at 17:28 of the first period to put the Rangers ahead to stay. Quick got plenty of help from his teammates to preserve the 1-0 lead until Sam Carrick’s long-distance empty-netter with 1:35 remaining put the game away.
The shutout was the 64th of Quick’s career, tying him with Rangers Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist for 17th on the NHL’s all-time list.
Adam Fox had the secondary assist on both goals as the Rangers played the kind of suffocating defense they’d shown under new coach Mike Sullivan until last week, when they allowed 11 goals in back-to-back losses to the NHL’s two worst teams, the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames.
New York had an 18-9 advantage in total high-danger scoring chances (13-7 at 5-on-5), according to Natural Stat Trick. They went 26-21 in the face-off circle – largely because of Miller – and limited the Canucks to 11 shots on goal through the first two periods.
The Rangers are now 1-1-0 halfway through their four-game trip through Western Canada and Seattle. Their next stop is Edmonton and a Thursday night date against the Oilers, who beat them 2-0 at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 14.
Key takeaways from Rangers’ 2-0 win against Vancouver
1. J.T. Miller gets a tribute – and a victory
The Canucks did the traditional “welcome back” video for Miller, and the sellout crowd of 18,919 stood and cheered. But he was booed when he touched the puck at other points during the game.
Miller had 437 points (152 goals, 285 assists) in 404 games with the Canucks. His time in Vancouver didn’t end well — he was traded after disagreements with longtime teammate Elias Pettersson. But he said he was grateful for the tribute video and the standing ovation he received.
“It’s just surreal. You don’t realize how lucky you are,” he said. “Just really happy that my kids got to be here today, and my wife. It means a ton to me. Just feel like super lucky to have that support in a hockey crazy city. It was a really special chapter of our lives here.”
2. Jonathan be nimble, Jonathan be Quick
Quick got the call against Vancouver after Igor Shesterkin was lit up in the losses to San Jose and Calgary. He was sharp — and he got the kind of support from his teammates that they hadn’t provided in the previous two games.
The Canucks were rarely able to set up in the offensive zone — and when they did, Quick was up to the task. It was his sixth career shutout against Vancouver.
“From start to finish, we defended well,” he said. “We checked hard, competed in the neutral zone and in front of our net.”
Quick’s best saves came against center Lukas Reichel, who was playing his third game in four nights after being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. No. 32 gloved Reichel’s quick shot from alone at the bottom of the left face-off circle 42 seconds into the first period and got his left pad on a partial break-in off the left wing 3:33 into the second. Quick also stopped Conor Garland alone in tight midway through the first period and got his left pad out to deny a cutting Jake DeBrusk in the crease 6:25 into the third.
3. Rangers remember how to play defense
Maybe it was wanting to win for their captain. Maybe it was playing in front of their backup goaltender. But the Rangers reverted to playing the kind of defense that had made them the NHL’s stingiest team until last week, when they reverted to last season’s sloppiness.
Quick was solid. But even more important was the effort on defense. There were sticks and bodies in the passing lanes, plenty of solid backchecking and lots of one-and-dones for the Canucks when they tried to play dump-and-chase.
“That’s the game that we’ve put on the ice for most of this year,” Sullivan said. “When we play that way, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win every night. … We defended hard. When there were breakdowns, we got some good saves from Quickie.”
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