J.T. Miller’s OT winner propels Rangers past Canadiens to boost wild-card positioning

The duality to this Rangers team was encapsulated by Saturday’s 5-4 overtime win over the Canadiens.

Despite falling behind by three goals early, the Blueshirts rallied all game before captain J.T. Miller scored his second goal of the night with the extra skater 2:56 into the extra period to snag the second point from Montreal at Madison Square Garden.

“There was a lot of hockey left,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of the deficit his team faced early on in the win, which gave the Rangers a 2-0-2 record in their past four home games. “That’s what we talked about on the bench. That’s what we talked about in between periods, ‘Let’s not get overwhelmed here. Let’s just keep playing, keep playing the game. Let’s work for the next goal.’ And that’s what they did. Those moments, I think, they’re great opportunities for a group to grow and become a team. You face those types of adversities and you overcome them.

“I think that helps to galvanize a group, and it also provides evidence for our team that if we get in those situations again, what we’re capable of.”

Pulling even with the Canadiens and Penguins at 36 points in prime wild-card position in the Eastern Conference, the Rangers did it all in front of a collection of the organization’s biggest names, who gathered at the Garden for the latest centennial theme night celebrating the New Garden era.

And in reaching overtime for the third time in the past four games, the Rangers finally emerged victorious.