‘You don’t realize how lucky you are’: Rangers’ J.T. Miller reflects on Canucks tenure in first trip back to Vancouver

At a commercial break just over halfway through the first period, J.T. Miller’s tribute video played on the Rogers Arena scoreboard, suspended high above the ice surface he’d called home for nearly six seasons.

The New York Rangers captain, who had been booed by the Vancouver Canucks’ faithful every time he touched the puck in the Rangers’ 2-0 win Tuesday night, was given a standing ovation. He briefly saluted the fans. But Miller, as always, was more dialed into the game.

“Honestly, no,” Miller said after the game when asked if he was able to soak in the moment. “We had a power play, we were worried about having a good rep.”

Miller had lots of time to reflect. Vancouver will always be a special place for him and his family. The city was where he found his footing in the NHL as a play-driving center, hit a career-high in points (103) two seasons ago, and experienced playoff hockey in a success-starved Canadian market.

The Rangers’ Western Canada trip was Miller’s first time in Vancouver since the Jan. 31 trade that brought him back to New York — the franchise that originally drafted him 15th overall in 2011 — amid a reported rift between him and Canucks center Elias Pettersson.

Miller spent the Rangers’ off day Monday with his family, “trying to see as many people as I could.” His wife and two daughters made the trip to see old friends and teammates.

He got to bed early. It was a long day, the eve of the Rangers’ most important game of the season to date. New York entered Tuesday fresh off a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames — who currently sit in last place in the NHL — on Sunday night. They’d won just one of their last seven games. In three of their last four outings, they’d started slowly and surrendered the first goal less than two minutes in.

“We have a lot to worry about on our end,” Miller said before Tuesday’s game . “We’re just trying to focus on that. Obviously, we need to get things going as a group here for the Rangers, and whatever happens outside of that, it’s out of my control.”

The Rangers took care of business on the ice. They played sharp defensively and demonstrated good awareness and positioning throughout the game to limit Vancouver to just seven high-danger chances — 35% of the game’s share, according to Natural Stat Trick.

New York was lifted by Jonathan Quick’s 64th career, 23-save shutout — which tied Henrik Lundqvist for 17th on the NHL’s all-time list. A two-on-one give-and-go goal set up by Will Cuylle and finished by Mika Zibanejad late in the first period was all they’d need.

“Great team game,” said Quick. “From start to finish, we defended well. It’s a team that’s really good off the rush, and they got some dangerous weapons. We checked hard and competed through the neutral zone and in front of our net, and it went a long way.”

Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan spoke highly of Miller’s game and leadership thus far. Though Miller did not register a point, he won 11 of 15 faceoffs (73.3%) and had two shots, a block, and a hit across 19:24 of ice time.

“He has a certain perspective on the game right now,” Sullivan said. “He’s grown up a lot over the years, and I think he has a maturity level to him right now that’s admirable. He’s a fiery guy, as you know, and he wears his emotions on his sleeve, because he cares an awful lot about our team and about winning. I love that about him. In a lot of ways that’s what we’re trying to become as a team.”

The evening was not error-free. Though the Rangers controlled play through the first two periods with 58.5% of the game’s shot attempts, 67.7% of the expected goal share, and a 10-3 advantage in high-danger chances through 40 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Canucks turned up the pressure in the third period.

Until Sam Carrick found the empty net with just over 90 seconds to play, deflating the possibility of a late Canucks rally, New York was on its heels. Vancouver controlled more than 70% of the shot attempts in the final frame, according to Natural Stat Trick. More than half of the Canucks’ high-danger chances came in the final 20 minutes. Vancouver also had nearly 60% of the expected goal share.

The Rangers also went 0-for-3 on the power play, as their man-advantage unit dropped to 28th in the league with a 14.3% conversion rate. In the first period, Miller missed a golden opportunity in front of the net, as he redirected the puck wide.

“We had plenty of opportunities today,” Miller said. “They’re just not going right now, so I think it’d be really easy to just start opening up the game like we kind of had been, and I think we’re just going to plug away like this. We know what Ranger hockey is starting to look like when we play at our game, so we can’t press.”

Throughout the day, Miller spoke fondly of his time in Vancouver, of his best friends still with the Canucks organization, the way the city treated him and his family, and the memories of the Canucks’ 2024 playoff run that gave Vancouver a buzz it hadn’t experienced in more than a decade.

Though Miller’s days as a Canuck ended unceremoniously, mired in locker room drama and the club’s season in a tailspin, he’ll always carry the good memories — often, the ones hardest to appreciate.

“It’s just surreal,” Miller said. “You don’t realize how lucky you are. Just really happy that my kids got to be here today, and my wife. It means a ton to me. I just feel super lucky to have that support, and a hockey crazy city. It was a really special chapter of our lives here.”

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