Both J.T. Miller and Artemi Panarin had to shake off some rust during the New York Rangers’ season opener on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Miller suffered a lower-body injury during the second half of training camp and missed the last few games of the preseason and multiple practices.
On Tuesday night, Miller just didn’t look right, and he admitted that he’s still working through his injury.
“Not great. Kind of what I expected,” Miller said about how he was feeling during the Rangers’ first regular-season game. “Legs were heavy today. I haven’t been having a whole lot of reps, but that'll come with time. I know I'll be better next game.”
Panarin also suffered a lower-body injury during training camp, which caused him to miss the entirety of the preseason.
It’s unclear whether Panarin is one hundred percent healthy or not, but the months without participating in any game action were clearly evident in his play.
“It’s not an excuse, but obviously first game played in like five months, it’s not easy, but it is what it is,” Panarin said. “Try being better next game.”
Mike Sullivan is not worried about his two-star forwards.
The Rangers' head coach believes the time Miller and Panarin missed did impact them, but it’s only a matter of time before they return to their regular form.
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“We're gonna have to take it day by day. Obviously, J.T. missed a fair amount of training camp, as did Bread,” said Sullivan. “So, those two guys are jumping on a moving train, and when you miss that much time, it's not easy to jump back into an NHL game at NHL pace, even from a conditioning standpoint.
“I think those guys will get better with every game they play. I think they'll get better with timing and reads and all of those things. We'll take each day as it comes, and we'll try to manage it accordingly.”
Miller and Panarin are both set to play on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres.