The New York Rangers may be four points out of a playoff spot with 30 games to go, but if anything was evident before and now after their back-to-back weekend games, it's that they are closer to a Stanley Cup with J.T. Miller than they were without him.

Miller’s teammates have praised his leadership and ability to communicate on the bench and on the ice. Coach Peter Laviolette highlighted how Miller drove to the net with the Rangers trailing the Golden Knights 2-1 early in the third period Sunday and liked how he “just got into some scuffles and just mixed it up. We needed more of that.”