The Rangers hold J.T. Miller in high esteem.

But a team in the midst of a playoff push in the final games of a truncated season does not have time to live with the mistakes a 20-year-old will make.

“He needs to play,” head coach John Tortorella said about Miller prior to the Rangers’ game against the Leafs. The Rangers sent Miller down to AHL Connecticut on Tuesday. “I think he has a bright future but the future is not right now.”

Miller had two goals and four points in 26 games. But his minus-7 rating along with reconstructed lines following the trades for Ryane Clowe, Derick Brassard and Derek Dorsett made the rookie the odd man out.

“I like where the lineup is as far as the personnel,” Tortorella said. “He did some good things, but you could see as it was going on that more and more mistakes were coming into his game. It’s the wrong way to develop a player.”

Still, Tortorella left the door open for a return should the need arise.

“We’ll talk to [hockey operations with the Whale] as we go through. If we have injuries here or whatever it may be, we’ll check who the best guy is at that point in time with [head coach] Kenny [Gernander] and [the] staff,” Tortorella said.

More Mats please

Mats Zuccarello was brought back to provide offense.

While he has played well, the diminutive winger only has two assists in six games with the Rangers, which has Tortorella concerned.

“He’s got to score,” Tortorella said. “He’s had chances. He’s created chances [but] he hasn’t scored. I thought him, along with a number of other people, forgot how to play defense the last game in critical times.”

The left wing on Brad Richards’s line only had two shots on goal in the 4-3 loss to the Leafs Monday night at the Air Canada Centre. He skated 23 shifts totaling 21:46 of ice time in that game.

Zuccarello was signed after Metallurg Magnitogorsk was eliminated by Salavat Yulaev in the first round of the Kontinental Hockey League playoffs. He finished the regular season with 28 points (11 goals and 17 assists) in 44 games, and had four points (two goals and two assists) in seven playoff games.

“Zucc is a different player than last year. I think he’s in better shape. I think he’s quicker on the ice. I feel very comfortable putting him in situations,” Tortorella said. “But he’s got to score. He’s got to score in the shootout. It’s nice that we’ve seen it before but we need it now.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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Neither the mathematics nor the calendar lie.

But should the Rangers qualify for the playoffs, they could look at what transpired at the Garden on Monday night as a jumping off point.

The Rangers wake up Tuesday morning in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 20 games remaining in the truncated season after Monday night’s 2-1 shootout win over the Hurricanes at the Garden. The win ended a three-game losing streak.

“We just want two points,” Brian Boyle said. “It’s a grind right now. Hopefully we can build off it. [It was a] pretty complete effort, top-to-bottom.”

Rick Nash and J.T. Miller scored in the skills competition while Henrik Lundqvist turned away Jiri Tlusty and Alex Semin hit the crossbar.

The Rangers spoke of desperation and unity before the game, but it was the Hurricanes who started the game strong. Carolina went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead on Eric Staal’s 14th goal of the season. Staal’s goal, a laser from the right faceoff circle, underscored a period in which the Hurricanes generated 24 shots to the Rangers’ 12.

“I think that first period, when you come off a trip, you hope the skate in the morning gets that out of them but it just didn’t seem to,” head coach John Tortorella said. “We weren’t happy with the way we played in the first.”

It was as flat a start as could be.

But for as lethargic as they were in the opening 20 minutes, the Rangers were that energized in the second period, attempting 33 shots to Carolina’s 19. The offensive pressure paid off when Derek Stepan’s eighth goal of the year tied the game at 1-1 11:06 into the period. The goal also ended a team drought of 129:55 between goals. The last goal the Rangers scored prior to Stepan’s marker came off the stick of Ryan Callahan 1:11 into the second period of last Thursday’s loss to the Jets at the MTS Centre.

“This happens to pretty much [every team],” Boyle said of the drought. “The onus is on everybody. That’s what you [want] to do.”

After Stepan’s goal, the Rangers began to have the better of play in part due to their forecheck. Even though the teams traded chances for the remainder of the game until the shootout, the Rangers were able to consistently generate time and offensive opportunities in the Carolina zone by holding onto the puck. The Rangers finished with a 75-65 advantage in total shots and had six more shots on goal (36-30) than the potent Hurricanes.

“Forechecking was good,” Boyle said. “It was better. We were in their end more.”

While one game is not a panacea, it is not too early to look at the playoffs. It appears teams will need a minimum of 55 points to reach the playoffs this season. The Rangers will need 27 or 25 points in the remaining 20 games to clinch the franchise’s seventh playoff appearance in eight years following the 2004-05 lockout.

Using history as a barometer, the 47 points the Rangers earned in 1995, the last time the NHL had an abbreviated season, was enough to qualify for the playoffs as an eighth seed. The Rangers beat the No. 1 seed Nordiques in six games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals before being swept by the No. 2 seed Flyers in the second round.

“Two points is all that matters,” said Michael Del Zotto.

“This is a very important win for us,” Marian Gaborik said.

Lundqvist stopped 29-of-30 shots. Dan Ellis made 35 saves for Carolina. Both teams went 0-for-3 on the power play.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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The youngest Ranger was the leading man on the night The Rivalry was renewed on center stage, as J.T. Miller scored his first two NHL goals in the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Islanders Thursday night at the Garden.

With the win, the Rangers improved to 5-5-0 this season, and hold a 117-99-19-6 advantage all-time over the Islanders.

“I’m just trying to stay on an even keel here. Obviously it was nice for me but even better go get the win on home ice and a big bounce back from the last game. We just have to keep looking forward,” Miller said while wearing the Broadway Hat, given by the team to the game’s best player. He noted that his mother, grandmother and girlfriend were in attendance.

“It’s nice to get it out of the way,” Miller said of scoring his first goals at the Garden. “I was just trying to look past [the first goal] because we had a lot of game left so [I] just tried to keep plugging along.”

Ryan McDonagh and Marian Gaborik added goals. Gaborik’s was his first since Jan. 26, even though he is tied for fourth in the league in that category. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves. His lone mistake was yielding John Tavares’s fifth goal of the season.

“It’s been a bumpy start for us but we’re working really hard right to try and correct everything,” Lundqvist said. “I thought tonight we did a lot of good things. Tonight we got a good start.”

One-third of a newly formed second line with Chris Kreider and the returning Ryan Callahan, Miller opened the scoring 89 seconds into the match. Miller corralled a Mark Streit turnover at the Islanders’ blueline and sped past Brain Strait before roofing a shot over Evgeni Nabokov (21 saves).

“It’s so important for the organization to keep filling in with kids,” Rangers head coach John Tortorella said. “Cap world, youth, enthusiasm. [Carl] Hagelin comes up here and changes our team last year.

“[Miller and Kreider] have contributed in the first couple games. Hags brought speed. They’re two different type [of] players. I think Miller — he’s what, 19? — he has a lot of puck poise for such a young kid. He’s a bigger body. He’s a different type player.”

Gaborik increased the lead to 2-0 when he stuffed a rebound of a Marc Staal shot past Nabokov.

Tavares cut the lead in half at 11:13 of the second but Miller made sure the Islanders would come no closer with his second of the game on a semi-breakaway seven minutes later. McDonagh, who finished with two points in 24:42 of ice time, sprung Miller with a gorgeous headman pass. A deke opened a hole between Nabokov’s legs that Miller snapped a shot through to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

“I was trying to go right over his blocker,” Miller said. “I think it went through his arm; it’s nice for it to go in.”

The Islanders have lost three in a row. One of the culprits in the slide has been a suddenly impotent power play. The Islanders were 0-for-5 on the man advantage last night and are 0-for-19 in the last three games. Adding to the collapse of the Islanders’ specialty teams units was the fact that Miller’s second goal came on the power play.

“Some guys played tentative and some guys didn’t take hits to make plays. You’re not going to win like that,” Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. “I told them after the game that I was disappointed with some guys and their battle level.

Our power play couldn’t get it going when it was a one-goal game. Special teams are still a factor.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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