The best thing about the Vancouver Canucks so far is goalie Ryan Miller. The worst thing about that is there aren’t many challengers for the best thing so far.

With its power play 1-for-20 and key forwards struggling to score at even strength, the National Hockey League team has leaned dangerously heavily on its goalie. Miller has not only handled the burden, but played his best hockey since coming to the Canucks as a free agent before last season. He is the player most responsible for the Canucks’ 3-1-2 start — the wins coming against teams that are a collective 4-11-1 this season.

Through six games, the 35-year-old Miller has stopped 93.5 per cent of shots — way beyond his career clip of 91.5. With Alex Ovechkin and the potent Washington Capitals visiting Rogers Arena tonight, it doesn’t take a stats nerd to tell you Miller’s save rate is probably unsustainable and, two losses into a five-game homestand, the Canucks have to be better in front of him.

But we really don’t know the limits on Miller at present because the American Olympian is in a starkly different mind space than he was a year ago. Not only is he a new father, but he has a new outlook on his craft that in some ways counters the trend toward technical-obsessed, analytical goalkeeping.

“I think I got myself to the point where I was thinking a little too much, and just wanted to get myself to a place where I’m not having that problem,” Miller said after practising Wednesday at the University of B.C. “What it really comes down to is competing. You can still make your reads, but be really competitive and really dialed into the puck and where it’s going, and not rely solely on ‘I think this is going to happen.’ All you really have to do is be in the moment and play.”

This mindset, as Miller revealed last week, originated in the playoffs in April when he replaced Eddie Lack against the Calgary Flames after missing six weeks with a knee injury. Knowing he wasn’t completely sound technically or physically, he said he just wanted to compete and get himself into the battle.

That attitude rekindled something deep within Miller, who brought the same ideas — and 100 per cent health — into this season. The heightened competitiveness and reliance on instincts has led at times to more aggressive positioning. It helped Miller make key saves when the Canucks swept the struggling Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings on consecutive nights last week, but probably hurt him a couple of times in Vancouver’s 4-3 loss last Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.

During his best years with the Buffalo Sabres, Miller was renowned for his aggressive and athletic play. Then the goaltending instructional tide pushed him deeper in his net. Aggressive goalies had to adapt or perish.

Miller emphasized he isn’t abandoning the technical developments that have revolutionized goaltending, but “I’m trying to hold on to what makes me a good player. I can’t wait on plays. Goaltending is constantly in evolution.”

He continued: “I think in the last couple of years you hear certain things, like you need to play a little deeper, you need to be able to get to the backside plays. That’s simple. But how do I do that? What does that mean to me? Even the guys who play deep, like Cory Schneider, Henrik Lundqvist, Mike Smith, they’re all different goalies. So what does it mean to me and how I need to play?