J.T. Miller heating up in jumbled Rangers lineup after preseason injury

There were plenty of signs — and admissions — during and after the Rangers opener that J.T.Miller wasn’t entirely back up to speed following a lower-body injury sustained in the preseason.

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.His legs were heavy, the center said last Tuesday, and it would take time and reps before he resembled the version of the player the Blueshirts acquired in the middle of last season and named their captain over the summer.But slowly, and then more rapidly, Miller has started to showcase that.

He collected his first goal late in Thursday’s win over the Sabres, and then Sunday, skating alongside Will Cuylle and Conor Sheary again, Miller produced three high-danger chances — and as a line, the trio produced six.The Rangers have already been forced to shuffle lines just four games into the season with Vincent Trocheck week to week due to an upper-body injury, but the physical Miller starting to contribute and fueling a new-look line has helped.“Just a lot of effort,” Cuylle said of Miller after the Rangers’ 1-0 loss to the Capitals on Sunday.

“What he always brings.He’s the leader of our team, so he’s getting in the fight, going head-first in there, so we’re all kinda following his lead.”Following Trocheck’s injury in Buffalo, Mika Zibanejad shifted to center Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière, while Sheary — the 33-year-old winger who made the Rangers roster after starting training camp on a PTO — joined Miller and Cuylle.

Both lines, even without Trocheck and even with head coach Mike Sullivan’s tweaks, have continued to produce.Sullivan praised Zibanejad for his two-way contributions and his physicality before Sunday’s game, while Miller, who sparked the Rangers with 35 points in 32 games after arriving from the Canucks last season, has quickly collected three in his past three games after the...