Tocchet talks Miller benching: I played guys who could help us win

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was very direct about why he benched forward J.T. Miller down the stretch of Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.

"I went with the guys I thought could get us back in the game," Tocchet said, per Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre.

Miller only played two shifts in the third period Sunday, and none in the final 14 minutes. Tocchet added that the extended spell on the bench wasn't injury related.

The Canucks surrendered three unanswered goals in the second period while losing a 2-1 lead to the last-place Predators. Two of Nashville's tallies in the frame came on the power play, with Miller a part of the penalty-kill unit that gave up Steven Stamkos' go-ahead goal.

"Obviously, the penalty kill wasn't good," Tocchet said. "That kind of was the difference in the game. We're up 2-1, we had a couple of chances at (an open) net, and then we get penalties, and they score the two goals.

"We ran around a little too much. We gave that ... flanker shot, and we overplayed the one side. I didn't like our structure in it. We talked about it before the game. We just didn't do the game plan. A couple of guys ran around. Can't do that."

The Canucks routinely use Miller in all situations. He ranks second on the team with 16 points in 17 games. Miller has recorded 418 points in 381 appearances for Vancouver since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019.

The Canucks sit third in the Pacific Division at 9-5-3.