Miller Time: Canucks forward responds to brief benching with huge goal

In an error-filled game the Vancouver Canucks won on Thatcher Demko’s goaltending and Elias Pettersson’s hat trick, the biggest point of the night was made by coach Rick Tocchet.

In the ninth game of the season, his team now 6-2-1 after the Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Tuesday at Rogers Arena, Tocchet benched J.T. Miller for the final 4:42 of the second period after the team’s emotional leader took his third minor penalty of the night.

Arguably the Canucks’ best forward through eight games – which is saying something, because Pettersson is now second in National Hockey League scoring – Miller, who had taken only four minutes in penalties before Halloween, responded by scoring a clinching goal at 4:11 of the final period.

The game was full of teachable moments for Tocchet and the Canucks, who were careless with the puck early on and not nearly as sharp and engaged as they had been in their previous handful of games, including impressive back-to-back performances on the weekend against the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers.

But even in their second-worst game of October, the upgrades over last season were starkly obvious: the Canucks still won by three goals instead of losing by three, and Miller did not self-destruct but served his short sentence by operating the gate at the end of the bench, then responded to Tocchet’s third-period pardon with a positive effort.

It would have been even better had Miller spoken to the media after the game, but whatever.

Tuesday is what progress looks like for the Canucks.

“You like to have these learning lessons when you win,” Tocchet told reporters. “If you lose, it’s a big learning lesson. It’s a little easier tomorrow (at practice) for us to dissect this and get back to our identity. It was a loose game — too many turnovers, too many people diving in. It wasn’t a great game for us identity-wise.”

And yet they won, extending their points streak to five games (4-0-1) by scoring the final four goals after falling behind 2-1 in the sloppy first period.

Like the rest of his teammates, Pettersson could barely complete a pass at the start. But he later wristed two pucks past Predator backup Kevin Lankinen and then completed his hat trick by guiding the puck into an empty net on a breakaway. Pettersson missed the empty net from the blue line – twice – when the Canucks won 3-2 in Nashville last week.

“I was just making sure I wasn’t missing another open net,” Pettersson smiled. “A little redemption there.”

The 24-year-old Swede has five goals and 16 points this season, behind only the New Jersey Devils’ Jack Hughes. Canuck Quinn Hughes, Jack’s older brother, had three assists Tuesday, leads the NHL at plus-11 through nine games and is tied with the Rangers’ Adam Fox for the scoring lead among defencemen at 11 points.

“It’s good to get different kinds of wins, and wins when we haven’t played our best,” Pettersson said. “Maybe previous years, we haven’t won these games. But now we get goaltending (and) I think we’re defending ourselves better. But definitely a little off-game today.

“I think confidence is everything. Even if you don’t have your best game, you can (fall back) to defensive structure and confidence. I think that’s what’s won us the game today.”

As impactful as he was disciplined through eight games, Miller displayed a sliver of his old combustibility at 17:26 of the first period when he doubled his penalty minutes for the season by taking hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Predators forward Filip Forsberg had chicken-winged Miller’s stick on the hook. This obviously drew no sympathy from referee Eric Furlatt, who could have just looked the other way when the Canuck complained but instead doubled down after his marginal call.

Still, Miller did not cross coach Tocchet’s line in the sand until he took a third penalty, for high-sticking Roman Josi at 13:13 of the second period after the Nashville defenceman knocked him off balance with a quick cross check near the end boards.

Miller was relieved to sit for two minutes in the penalty box, but then also sat out a Canuck power play and missed one five-on-five shift at the end of the second period when Pius Suter, who has not registered a point this season, took Miller’s turn between wingers Brock Boeser and Phil Di Giuseppe.

When put back on the ice by Tocchet in the third period, Miller scored at 4:11, prodding home a rebound after jamming the net before Boeser shot from distance.

It was yet another compelling study in discipline, coaching and team-building. The great thing about Tocchet’s message in briefly benching Miller is that everyone on the Canucks probably learned from it.

“I think it makes everybody know they’re accountable,” Tocchet said. “Whether it’s J.T. Miller or Pettersson or, you know, Huggy (Hughes). . . I think it’s important. Now, some guys get a little bit longer leash for different reasons. He’s a guy that I think deserved a chance to go out in (the) third. I’m not going to sit him in the third period. He’s done too many good things for me and his teammates. And when he scored, his teammates were so happy for him.”

Tocchet said he spoke with Miller during the second intermission.

“He came up to me and talked to me and apologized, and I apologized to him,” Tocchet said. “We went at it. I love the kid; I’ve got no problems with J.T. Miller.

“He’s an emotional leader for this team. We’re a quiet team, and I think sometimes we all give him crap sometimes because he’s got to draw the emotion from a lot of our guys. Sometimes he’s going to go over the edge, and he got back and he’s fine. Like I said, I have no problem with his emotions at all.”

Playing a matchup role nightly against the opposition’s best forwards, Miller has five goals and 13 points and is plus-eight.

“J.T. has been a big-time leader, a big-time player for us since he got here five years ago,” Hughes, the Canucks’ captain, said. “He’s going to have his moments where he gets frustrated. I’m going to have my moments where I get frustrated, same with Petey. It’s just up to all of us together to help each other and cool each other off, and I think we’ve all done a really good job at that. Millsy, a lot of time he’s, like, our emotional leader and he gets us in the fight. I don’t want him to change at all.”