Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet Calls Out J.T. Miller Post-Game & Explains Benching
Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was unhappy with J.T. Miller's performance during Sunday's loss to the Nashville Predators and addressed it post-game.
24 hours after defeating Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, the Vancouver Canucks were back in action as they hosted the Nashville Predators on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at Rogers Arena.
It was the first meeting between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators since the two faced each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs back in April.
For the Predators, it's been a very tough season, even after they loaded up with talent in the off-season by signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, among others.
After 20 minutes, the game was tied up one goal a piece, but in the middle frame, the Predators blew things open with three goals and ended up taking the game by a score of 5 to 3.
J.T. Miller called out by head coach Rick Tocchet
During the third period, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet decided to bench forward J.T. Miller after a sub-par performance all night long.
Miller ended up finishing the game with 11:41 TOI, with only 1:39 of that coming in the third period.
After the game when speaking with reporters, Rick Tocchet was asked about benching J.T. Miller in the third period when the Canucks were down 4-2 and he said it came down to putting out the guys who he thought could get them back into the game.
He went on to add, "No", when asked if Miller was dealing with an injury."
While Miller has only put up two goals in his last ten games, the East Palestine, Ohio native has registered 16 points (six goals, ten assists) in 17 games, the most among any forward on the Canucks' roster.
Miller is bound to have a bad game here and there.
He'll also be the first person to take responsibility and say that he didn't play well, as he's done in the past. So he probably wasn't too surprised when he found himself glued to the Canucks' bench during the third period.
There's no doubt Miller will bounce back from a tough outing on Sunday, and he'll have an opportunity to show what he's capable of during Tuesday night's game against the New York Rangers. Puck drop for that contest is set for just after 7 pm PT.
