Rookie K’Andre Miller, who has quickly established himself as one of the Rangers’ top defensemen, missed his first game of the season Tuesday night when he was left out of the lineup because of an upper-body injury. Brendan Smith, who had missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury, took Miller’s place in the lineup on the left side of the second defense pair, partnered with Jacob Trouba.
Miller, 21, led the team in takeaways entering Tuesday with 12, was second on the team in plus/minus (plus-5), and was the second-leading scorer among defensemen with one goal, three assists (four points) in 13 games.