Here’s a precis of J.T. Miller’s eventful night’s work in the Canucks’ 3-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champs from St. Louis.
First off, there were two five-on-five goals that kind of played a prominent role in the game’s outcome. There was also 19 minutes of ice time and a plus-two rating along with two key penalty-killing shifts late in the second period and midway through the third, three blocked shots and a 73-per-cent success rate in the faceoff circle.
Oh, and one other thing. In addition to his two goals, he almost scored a third into his own net when his overly ambitious pass from behind the Canucks’ net ricocheted off the Blues’ Brayden Schenn and forced Thatcher Demko into a big, if somewhat unnecessary, save.
“My bad there,” Miller said to the Canucks’ goalie as they crossed paths in the dressing room after their media stints. “Sorry, Demmer.”
All part of the fun, said the Canucks’ goalie.
“Guys were giving him a couple of jabs at the intermission, but he scored two tonight so we can’t hold it against him.
“Weird things happen. The game’s unpredictable.”
Just ask Miller.
Now with his third team in less than two seasons, the former Ranger and former Lightning has found a home on the West Coast and the West Coast has found him. Fifty games into his Canucks career, he’s on pace to register career highs in goals and points and has already produced more in both categories than he did last season in Tampa.
But that’s just part of Miller’s story. His sturdy 200-foot game has gone a long way towards redefining a team in search of an identity. There’s a significant element of skill in that game. But there are equal parts will and determination that make Miller an indispensable piece of the Canucks’ rebuilding program.
“To win in this league, your top guys have to do those things,” coach Travis Green said. “It’s expected but when (established players) do it, I think it shows younger guys it should be expected of them, too.
“No matter who you are, you have to play a certain way to win and when I say win, I mean big games that matter late in the season.”
And to think there were any number of opinion-makers who were certain the Canucks overpaid to land Miller. In the interests of full disclosure, this space was one of them.
“I was really excited when they made that trade,” said Jay Beagle, the former Capital whose history with Miller goes back to the Eastern Conference. “He’s perfect for our style of hockey. It’s hard to find guys like that who are gritty but have skill.”
But that price, a first- and a third-round draft pick, with the first-rounder potentially being a lottery pick?
“I was like, he should have cost more,” Beagle said.
Beagle can say that now. Hell, we can all say that now. But back in June it was unclear what the Canucks were getting in Miller.
After back-to-back 56- and 58-point seasons between 2016 and 2018, he registered as a productive second-liner before his career took a sharp lefthand turn into bottom-sixville with Tampa last year.
Miller disputes the perception it was a down season, but the plain fact is he was bumped out of a feature role on a stacked Lightning team by the emergence of Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde as offensive producers.
Miller finished the season with 13 goals, his lowest total since his rookie year with the Rangers, and 47 points. But the more revealing number was his ice time. In 2017-18, he averaged just over 18 minutes a game in Tampa after he came over from the Rangers in a big deadline deal.
Last year, he was down to 14:40 per game.
“Obviously I’m playing way more here and have more of an opportunity, but I don’t think I had a bad year last year,” Miller said. “Maybe I didn’t score as many goals as I wanted, but it was only eight or nine points less than the year before in a reduced role.
“I don’t think production per minute is that far off.”
Maybe not far off, but it’s still off. Miller is on pace for 31 goals and 79 points this season. Coupled with the other assets he brings to the table, Miller is a frontline player.
That’s also the role Miller sought with the Canucks when general manager Jim Benning made the trade on the second day of the NHL draft. In meetings with Benning and Green, the 26-year-old Pittsburgh-area product was told he’d be given every opportunity with his new team but he had to, in Green’s words, “walk the walk.”
“He’s really embraced a new role,” Green said. “We talked in the summer and I think he was looking forward to being more of a leader on a team.”
Funny, that’s exactly what Miller said.
“I think it’s something I’ve embraced this year. I try to lead by example. I think that’s the most effective way.”
It’s helped, of course, that he’s stepped into that role on a new team that required a veteran presence at the top of its lineup. But it’s also helped that Miller went through the necessary training, absorbing the many ups and downs the game delivers, learning each step of the way while being shaped into a fully formed professional.
“He wants to win badly,” Green said. “Everyone says they want to win, but it’s hard to win. Do you really play like that? He’s one of those guys who does.”
And that’s helped drive the turnaround with this franchise.
“This year seems fresh and exciting for a lot of guys,” Miller said.
Some more than others.
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