There has been a huge gap in the Rangers’ lineup since Mats Zuccarello went down with his presumed concussion on April 24, and it has left coach Alain Vigneault struggling to find a suitable replacement on the right side of his top line with Rick Nash and Derick Brassard.
There now has been four periods of an audition for J.T. Miller, and the 22-year-old has impressed.
“I think when he skates he’s a different player, when he moves his feet he creates a lot of offense,” Nash said Saturday morning, his team tied with the Lightning 2-2 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final, resuming Sunday night with Game 5 at the Garden. “He’s got a great shot. He’s a physical guy. He’s kind of got a lot of tools of a top power forward, so he can definitely open up some room on the ice as well.”
Miller had started this series on the fourth line, but was bumped up for the third period of Game 3, flopping with Kevin Hayes.
Hayes then started Game 4 back in the middle, reunited with Carl Hagelin and Martin St. Louis to form a line that was effective in the first round against the Penguins.
“I thought J.T. had played really well in that third period of [Game 3],” Vigneault said. “I saw something with him and Brassard and Nash there.”
“Hayesy, Hagelin and Marty had some good looks and good offensive zone time. I used him in the Pittsburgh series. I thought it might be something worthwhile going back to and it paid off.”
The Rangers said there was no change in the status of Zuccarello, who didn’t skate Friday or Saturday after taking part in a workout with the team scratches on Thursday. He remains out “indefinitely,” although he is still “progressing,” according to the team.
Vigneault has shown himself to be a patient coach, hardly ever shortening his bench. The one time he did was when he sat St. Louis for the final 10:03 of regulation in a tied Game 7 against the Caps in the second round.
Vigneault was asked how and why he decides to sit someone, and his answer was insightful.
“It depends on the struggle,” Vigneault said. “There will be some types of plays or decisions out there that tell me that this guy is going to be off and I should do something quick. But most of our guys are pretty good.
“At this time of the year you need your four lines and your six [defensemen]. They know if one part on the line and one part on the ‘D’ pair isn’t executing, it affects the whole team, and nobody wants to affect the team [negatively].”
Nash had a review of the movie “Entourage,” which he arranged for the team to have a private screening of on their off day Thursday.
“I thought it was great,” he said of the film, which comes out June 3. “I think all the guys liked it.”
One of the stars of the movie is Kevin Connolly, a Long Island product and renowned Islanders fan. Without a spoiler, Nash said he didn’t remember a lot of Islanders mentions in the movie.
After scoring two goals and adding an assist in Game 4, one might think Nash slept well on Friday night. The opposite was true.
“I didn’t, actually. It’s really strange,” Nash said through a scratchy voice. “I was having great sleeps and then [Friday] night, I couldn’t sleep. It was weird.”