Rangers' Mika Zibanejad isn't fixated on scoring 40th goal
Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Mika Zibanejad, sitting on 39 goals as the Rangers took on the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, had no intention of doing anything extra to try to get No. 40.
“It means a round number,’’ Zibanejad said at the morning skate when asked the significance of getting to 40 goals.
“I hit the post last year, with the empty net, [shooting] for 30,’’ he said with a laugh. “The situation is what it is, and you try not to focus on it too much, because I think that kind of might take you out of your instincts and how you usually play.’’
The Stockholm native did not get his 40th goal Monday as the Rangers lost in a shootout, 3-2. They got two second-period goals from Artemi Panarin to turn a 1-0 deficit after one period into a 2-1 lead after two, but Casey Mittelstadt’s goal at 8:13 of the third period tied the score. Mittelstadt then scored the winner in the shootout to give the Sabres a victory they desperately needed to stay in the wild-card playoff race.
The Rangers (47-21-13, 107 points) did earn a point and pulled within one of idle New Jersey in the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils (50-22-8, 108) will play Buffalo in Newark on Tuesday and will clinch second if they get even a single point.
The Rangers have one more game remaining in the season, Thursday at home against Toronto.
Zibanejad didn’t get to 40 goals but had an assist on Panarin’s first score, a power-play goal at 1:01 of the second period. That got Panarin to 90 points for the first time in his career. He finished the night with 91 points by adding his 28th goal.
“Both of them had a real good year for us, obviously,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. “Any time you got guys going like that and getting those amount of points, it’s good for our team.’’
The Sabres (40-32-7, 87 points) were desperate to win and had the territorial edge in the first period, outshooting the Rangers 14-4 and taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by J.J. Peterka at 14:24.
But the Rangers got a power play with 52.8 seconds left in the first when Tage Thompson high-sticked Panarin, who tied the score with his 27th goal early in the second.
That sparked the Rangers, who played much better in the second. They took the lead on Panarin’s one-timer off a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko at 11:12 of the second.
After Mittelstadt tied it and the game went to overtime, the Rangers were called for having too many men on the ice 1:18 into the extra session, but they were able to kill the penalty.
They did suffer a scare when defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who before the game was presented the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, was hit in the face as he dropped down to block a shot.
Lindgren skated off the ice and headed to the locker room but returned in time to watch the shootout and said afterward he was OK.
“I guess I got pretty lucky,’’ said Lindgren, who had a small red mark on his cheek. “It must have just kind of grazed me. It got my cheek a little bit, but I’m all right.’’
In the shootout, Buffalo went first and Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped the first three shooters, Jack Quinn, Thompson and Alex Tuch. Buffalo rookie goalie Devon Levi stopped Patrick Kane, Zibanejad and Panarin. Owen Power scored in round four for Buffalo and Tarasenko scored to extend the tiebreaker to a fifth round.
Mittelstadt then scored and Kaapo Kakko missed to give Buffalo the win.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
