Rangers Summary: JT Messier

JT Miller was the hero last night, giving the Rangers an overtime victory in St. Louis pretty well played game of the Rangers. This was Miller’s third OT winner of the season, tying Marian Gaborik for the most in a season since 2011-12. We also saw Gabe Perreault’s first NHL goal on a redirect up front, which hopefully gave him and the coaching staff some extra confidence. With no Artemi Panarin last night, the team defense had to step up. By holding St. Louis to one goal and some big danger chances, the team as a whole came through. Instead of finding a way to lose, they finally found a way to win.

Igor Shesterkin was sharp, except for one mistake in the first period after facing just five shots. His workload would increase, stopping all 21 shots in the second and third periods before Miller’s OT winner. Shesterkin is paid to steal games and while he isn’t perfect, he is the Rangers’ saving grace in net.

When the Rangers recalled both Perreault and Brennan Othmann and then quickly drafted them both into the bottom six, there was a lot of collective groaning. But Perreault scored a power-play goal with the second unit, which hopefully means he’ll gain some confidence over the next few games. Maybe Mike Sullivan was just protecting the kids and making it easier for them to get into the lineup, but it wasn’t a good idea to put them both in the bottom six when the Rangers were so hungry for offense. Both should be given long lines to adapt to NHL play, and hopefully, if nothing else sticks, they will get that line.

It’s worth noting that the main target of the drafting decisions, Conor Sheary, was excellent last night and played a key role in shutting down the Neighbors-Thomas-Buchnevich line to St. Louis, their only real threat. Ideally, Sheary will be able to add more offense, but on third down, with Vincent Trocheck and JT Miller as a shutdown line against the opponent’s best, he’s doing just fine. It’s time to stop complaining about Sheary. He shouldn’t be in the top six, but as a player overall and in the role he played last night, he’s doing just fine. If you want to question whether Trocheck and Miller should be locked down moving forward, that’s a whole different argument.

Miller could almost be worth his contract as he dominates in 3-on-3 overtime. Miller was an odd signing as he struggled at 5v5, but once he has more space he is much more lethal. Miller has become a guy the Rangers want to have on the puck in OT. It may sound ridiculous, but if Miller sets some goals, it could negatively impact the guys around him and give them a little more life. The Rangers have had little life over the past two years, and this is an area where Miller can lead by example.

The Rangers will play a back-to-back this weekend against the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators, two teams they should beat and could right the ship (again).