VANCOUVER — It wasn’t the return of J.T. Miller that hurt the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, but the return of Mike Sullivan.

The two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach, trying to transform the New York Rangers into something more substantial, had his struggling team dialled in positionally against the Canucks.

The Rangers took away space in the neutral zone, owned the boards and yielded almost nothing to the Canucks in the first two periods as they beat Vancouver 2-0 with 39-year-old Jonathan Quick in the New York net.

Still, the Canucks could have used Miller — or anyone else capable of scoring a goal or elevating their play at a critical time.

Vancouver’s top forwards were as muted as they have been this season and, befitting the black October it has been for the Canucks, leading scorer

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