New York Rangers K'Andre Miller reflects on his performance: "I need to do better"

PUBLICATION

Joshua Deeds
November 1, 2024 (11:23 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Thursday after Rangers practice, you could see a plethora of dirty jerseys, and a locker room empty.

The only jersey that was missing from the pile, was K'Andre Miller's who decided to spend extra time on ice.

He wanted to put in extra work after the team's 5-3 loss to the Capitals. He felt he owed it to himself to get better and cope all the while.

«Personally, I've got to be better,» he told lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, after skating the frustrations out of his system. «I was not on top of my game. That was something I kind of wanted to come in for today's practice and really focus in and just prepare myself for the next game.»

Two of his mistakes were prominent which involved a defensive zone pass that wasn't safe, which Alex Ovechkin intercepted and potted for a goal. The next even-strength goal would see Aliaksei Protas outwork Miller on the boards and find a way to beat him to finish the play with a goal.

Those were the costliest moments, but the Miller's play was uneven throughout the night. In total, the Rangers were outshot, 14-3, with a 6-0 disadvantage in high-danger scoring chances while the 24-year-old defenseman was on the ice at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

"I don't want to play like that," Miller said. "I kind of looked back at my preparation."

He decided to focus on the aspects of his play that make him a good player:

key in on the things that I know I'm good at and that make me a good player."

His physicality is one thing, but his ability to skate fast and cover lots of ground is an advantage he is working on. This allows him to cover defensive gaps and say if Adam Fox gets beat or has to cover for him.

"One of the things that I don't lean on (enough) but that I have in my back pocket if I need it is my quick defensive instincts," he said. "When something does break down, just getting back defensively and making sure we're covering for each other and having each other's back when one of us is jumping into play."

Miller has had an uncharacteristic start to the 2024-2025 season, scoring only 2 points( 1 G, 1 A) in 9 games this season.

His career year in 2022-2023 was one he wasn't able to eclipse, as he scored 43 points(9 G, 34 A) and if he can put all the pieces of his game together, could we see a similar result this year?

"We've talked about moving things around, but starting with Key and Foxy, they've been a pretty good pair - just their numbers and what they do on the ice," Laviolette said. "(Tuesday) night is more a reflection of not being a good one (for the team), so we need to bounce back and right that. But in a bigger picture, they've been pretty good."

Fortunately, Miller and Fox will remain the top-pairing in New York, as they work well together. Could this be a small bump in the road, before the team turns on the afterburners and finds their elite level of play we've seen before?