J.T. Miller calls Rangers’ effort inexcusable and looks inward after historic home loss

The festivities at Madison Square Garden before the game hit all the right notes on a night that was all about celebrating a modern franchise legend. Players wore comical wigs to honor Mika Zibanejad’s signature flow, a heartfelt video narrated by his wife Irma played on the jumbotron, and The Garden faithful roared for a player who has given his all for the Blueshirts since joining the team in 2016. Everything that happened after the puck dropped for Zibanejad’s 1,000th NHL game, however, is something fans and the team will want to forget. Instead of a continuation of the celebration, the New York Rangers proceeded to stoop to a new historical low in an already doomed centennial season.

On Monday night, the Rangers managed just nine shots on goal in a lifeless 2-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Nine shots. Two in the first, two in the second, and five in the third... all coming on a night in which the Rangers and Senators held the lone game on the NHL schedule. Not only was it bad enough to record a single-digit shot total, but the Rangers did it while the rest of the hockey world was watching, likely tuning in to celebrate Zibanejad only to be treated to an absolute disasterclass.

To find another time in the franchise's 100-year history in which the team was this inept, you would have to go back to December 11, 1955, when the team also mustered nine shots against Detroit. In an era of high-octane offense, matching a 71-year-old record for offensive incompetence says everything you need to know about the current state of the roster.

"These ones don't sit well"

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, captain J.T. Miller offered a self-assessment that will certainly get under the skin of a fanbase already reaching its breaking point. Miller didn't mince words, and he was brutally direct in his "look in the mirror" moment. He went as far as to say that while you can usually sleep at night after a hard-fought loss, this performance felt different. He labeled the lack of skating and lost puck battles as "inexcusable," particularly on a milestone night for one of the team's primary leaders.

The full quote, worth reading in its entirety, comes via Peter Baugh of The Athletic:

"Quite simply, they just outcompeted us today from the puck drop. Sometimes we talk about (how) you lose the game and you can sleep at night. You feel good on the drive home. Tonight, it shouldn't feel good. We have every reason to want to play better at home this year for how much we've struggled. Four shots through two periods. It's Mika's 1,000th game. You just look inward. What can I do? It's not enough. I'm not doing enough to help my team right now as a leader. For us to not win puck battles and not skate, those things are inexcusable. If you just have a rough night execution-wise, you can get by. But we didn't execute. We don't skate. We were on the end of our stick. We knew exactly what the game was going to be. That's a playoff-ready team. They have some unbelievable players and some guys that play a heavy game, and it was either we were going to match it or we're not. And we didn't. I don't think we had 10 shots in Mika's 1,000th game night. These ones don't sit well."

This isn't the first time Miller has had a monologue like this for the Rangers, and fans certainly hope it is one of his last... at least for this season. Miller’s frustration was centered on the lack of response to a Senators team that was vulnerable to be beaten. Ottawa played the majority of the game with only four healthy defensemen after losing Thomas Chabot and Lassi Thomson to injury. Despite facing an exhausted, depleted defensive corps, the Rangers could only muster four shots through the first 40 minutes of play.

The centennial season continues its historic slide

The irony of this performance coming during the franchise’s 100th year wasn't lost on the fans, who voiced their displeasure with boos throughout the third period. While Igor Shesterkin did everything in his power to keep the game respectable by making 31 saves, the offense in front of him was non-existent. The Rangers were outshot 33-9 by a playoff-ready Ottawa team that simply outworked them from the opening draw.

The lack of effort was a focal point for the MSG broadcast, with analyst and former team captain Dave Maloney, as well as intermission analyst Steve Valiquette, expressing disbelief at the lack of urgency. On a night where there were extra eyes and heightened attention, the Rangers were an embarrassment, and there is no good explanation for it.

As the Rangers continue to play out the string of a season that has failed to live up to its historical billing, the focus shifts inward. As Miller noted, the team knew exactly what kind of game it was going to be, and they simply failed to meet the moment. For a veteran group missing the playoffs for the second season in a row following a Presidents' Trophy-winning campaign, the inability to compete on home ice has become a recurring theme that no amount of pre-game ceremonies can mask.

Soon the season will be over, and everyone involved can start to turn the page. But for a little while, this is a performance everyone in that locker room—sans Shesterkin, Zibanejad, and a few rookies doing their best—will have to wear. The Rangers may have traded "No Quit in NY" for a training camp mantra of "No B.S." this season, but on Monday night, they delivered a performance that was the antithesis of both.