There were no breaks for the New York Rangers and K’Andre Miller today, with the league handing down a three game suspension for spitting on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. Miller can appeal the suspension and make his case to league commissioner Gary Bettman, or he can accept the term which will see him miss games against the Flyers, Senators and Bruins.
While Miller claimed it was an accident, and appeared to be shocked after the call was made, he was clearly careless with his actions, with a crowd of players around him as he spat. While the suspension does follow the precedent of Garnet Hathaway’s spitting event against Eric Gudbranson, it isn’t exactly the same, with the Ranger defenseman perhaps more guilty of poor judgement than a willful act as was the case of Hathaway who responded to a sucker punch from his opponent.
Miller also appeared contrite after the game, reaching out to Doughty to apologize for his actions, and issuing a statement on Twitter yesterday to underscore his position.
Having Miller suspended will not impact the ability to make the expected trade for Chicago Right Wing Patrick Kane. The Rangers have the league minimum 20 active players on the roster as it stands, and the addition of Kane would give them 21, and sufficient number to play tomorrow night against the Flyers.
It is expected that Braden Schneider will be recalled from his paper assignment to Hartford prior to tomorrow night, with Ryan Carpenter being sent down once more. That would give the Blueshirts five healthy defensemen as well as defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who remains day to day with an upper body injury.
Lindgren could be dressed tomorrow and sit on the bench for the whole game, as they did with Schneider on Sunday, or he could be a late scratch that would leave the Rangers a man short, but still compliant with the league.
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