Rangers Daily: Miller ‘flub’ set wrong tone; McKenna bolted to Toronto bench

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Rangers Daily: Miller ‘flub’ set wrong tone; McKenna bolted to Toronto bench

Rangers Daily: Miller 'flub' set wrong tone; McKenna bolted to Toronto bench — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jim Cerny · Forever Blueshirts

Fri, Oct 16, 2026 ·

6 min read

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Plenty of times already this season we've heard New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan praise captain J.T. Miller for setting the right tone for the team whether through words, action, or both. And the results and eye-test largely passed the test with the Rangers winning six of their first eight games with Miller consistently playing a hard two-way game.

Game No. 9, however, saw Miller set the tone alright, just not the right one.

Miller's turnover in the final minute of the first period directly handed the New Jersey Devils a goal by Evan Rodrigues with 30 seconds remaining. In a period the Rangers largely controlled, despite the scoreboard reading 0-0, they headed into intermission down 1-0.

Not catastrophic, but suboptimal, for sure. Especially because there was no excuse for Miller — unchecked and not under any duress — to send the puck into the middle of the ice where no teammate was in sight. Yes, he flubbed the clearing attempt, didn't get all he wanted on it, but there was still absolutely no reason to throw the puck into such a dangerous area when he was by the boards.

The biggest mystery here is who Miller even saw to pass in that direction.

No one even in the vicinity of where the puck would end up, even if he didn't whiff on it.

Just an awful play that completely derailed the team. #NYR
pic.twitter.com/FiCRkcF4uf

— Stat Boy Steven 🇳🇱🇮🇪 (@StatBoy_Steven) October 16, 2026

"We have a couple of really good chances at the end of that period. Unfortunately, I make a mistake, kind of flub one, then they get one," Miller explained postgame . "But honestly, we felt good going into the second. We played a lot of great hockey, and we're a confident group. Today, we just didn't have it. Disconnected all over the place, and giving up, obviously, chances we haven't been giving up."

It was so reminiscent of what happened so often last season with Miller. And, so, too was the alarming collapse of the rest of the team. The Rangers coughed up a four spot in the second period, and ended up getting blown out by their Hudson River rivals 7-1.

Miller was on ice for what happened to start that disastrous second period, too. That's when a Luke Hughes point shot bounced between Dylan Garand's pads to make ti 2-0 just 18 seconds into the period. And he was out there at 4:39 when the scrambling Rangers looked more like the Keystone Cops than the professional unit they've been for eight games, and Arseny Gritsyuk buried a juicy rebound to make it 4-0.

If it wasn't before, it certainly was time for the Blueshirts Faithful to head to the exits.

"Obviously, today was not our best. I'm not proud of that performance," Miller said.

Listen, this was a complete team fail Thursday. But if we're going to talk about how Miller drags the Rangers into the fight on good nights, it's fair to point out that their poor showing against the Devils started with the captain's glaring mistake — one that was all-too-similar to what went on around these parts last season and the one before that.

New York Rangers news and analysis

NHL: New York Rangers at New Jersey Devils — John Jones-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Lou Orlando has the complete game recap from New York's unsightly 7-1 loss to New Jersey.

Here are the key Rangers takeaways in my postgame column from that loss in Newark that conjured bad memories from the previous two seasons.

So what about the Rangers goaltending situation? Here's a breakdown (before the Blueshirts actually broke down against the Devils) of all that Elliotte Friedman shared on the topic in a juicy 32 Thoughts podcast Thursday.

This also was pregame, but still holds true: Mike Sullivan really appreciates Dylan Garand and called him "an easy guy to like."

So, you're in need of a laugh after that brutal Rangers showing Thursday, and Dan Bahl has got you covered with a funny story Keith Yandle recalled on a recent podcast about a prank he and some other Blueshirts pulled on a young J.T. Miller back in the day.

NHL news and rumors

NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs at Utah Mammoth — Rob Gray-Imagn ImagesCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Sportsnet: Welcome to the NHL Gavin McKenna. Luke Fox breaks down why the top pick in this year's draft didn't play a single shift over the final 32:54 as his Toronto Maple Leafs blew a 4-2 lead and lost to the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 in overtime.

Daily Faceoff: On top of all that, veteran Maple Leafs forward John Tavares left the game in the third period with an apparent injury after a collision with Sabres forward Josh Norris.

Sportsnet: And still more from that game in Toronto: Norris was in concussion protocol afterward following a collision with teammate Owen Power in overtime.

TSN: Darren Dreger reports on the latest Insider Trading that despite rumors Connor Hellebuyck could return to the Winnipeg Jets after a public trade request months ago, each side remains focused on moving him to a new team. In addition, Dreger reports that the Detroit Red Wings remain committed to getting 3-4 pieces in return for Dylan Larkin, who's playing for them but still stands by his trade request.

New Jersey Hockey Now: James Nichols breaks down a much-needed breakout win for the Devils against the Rangers.

Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman reports that the Dallas Stars are signing free-agent forward David Perron to a one-year contract for the League minimum. It will be Perron's 20th NHL season.

Detroit Hockey Now: Max Smith dives into the numbers and remains incredulous that the Red Wings have yet to re-sign young defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who remains a holdout.

Daily Faceoff: The Maple Leafs acquired forward Aatu Raty from the Vancouver Canucks in a trade Thursday, one day after the 23-year-old was placed on waivers.

Florida Hockey Now: Brady Tkachuk recorded his second straight natural hat trick , and scored the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Canucks.

NHL.com: The Philadelphia Flyers lost again, 2-1 to the Red Wings, and extended their franchise-long winless skid to begin the season to nine games (0-6-3).

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