Mika Zibanejad makes his feelings known about playing alongside newest Ranger J.T. Miller

Mika Zibanejad is happy to play with J.T. Miller again. J.T. Miller assisted Mika Zibanejad alongside Aretmi Panarin for his 10th goal of the season on Sunday to tie the score against the Vegas Golden Knights in Madison Square Garden. The goal was scored in the third period at 5:04

“He plays with a lot of intensity. I like the way he talks a lot on the bench. He talks a lot on the ice,” Zibanejad said. “He has a lot of ideas and it’s good because the communication makes it a lot easier, especially early on when we haven’t played together for a long time."

The Rangers got Miller from the Canucks on Friday. They traded Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. New York also received Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington in the trade.

J.T. Miller, 31, has 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) in 42 games this season. He is in the third year of a seven-year, $56 million contract he signed with the Canucks in 2022. Since rejoining the Rangers, Miller has four points in two games.

J.T. Miller scored twice in his first game, but the NY Rangers lost the game 6-3 to the Boston Bruins. In the next game, he had two assists in a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights. He has taken eight shots on goal and averaged nearly 18 and a half minutes of ice time.

Head coach Peter Laviolette also praised J.T. Miller's intensity, saying,

"We were looking for some pop going out there in the second period and he drove it to the net, just got into some scuffles and just mixed it up. We needed more of that.

"We needed to get involved in the game and that continued on, physicality started to show. Will had the big hit and so there was some good life. Sometimes, you got to get dragged in there a little bit and I think he's really good at that."

Miller’s return gives the Rangers more depth.

J.T. Miller, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad scored in Rangers' win

The New York Rangers beat the Vegas Golden Knights with Jonathan Quick's help, who made 34 saves, and finally became the first U.S.-born goalie to reach 400 NHL wins.

Jack Eichel gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 19:41 of the first period. Alexis Lafrenière tied it 1-1 at 1:18 of the second period with a wrist shot. Eichel put Vegas back in front 2-1 at 9:16.

Mika Zibanejad tied it 2-2 at 5:04 of the third period with J.T. Miller's help scoring on a power play. K’Andre Miller gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead at 11:33 with a one-timer under the crossbar from a Zibanejad pass. Artemi Panarin made it 4-2 at 18:19, scoring on a power play to complete the win.