Mika Zibanejad makes up for loss of Artemi Panarin with hat trick in Rangers' shutout of Lightning

Things didn’t look promising for the Rangers when they discovered before Sunday’s matinee matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning that they would be without leading scorer Artemi Panarin, who was placed in COVID protocol.

But Mika Zibanejad scored three goals and Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves to earn his second shutout of the season as the Rangers beat the Lightning, 4-0, at Madison Square Garden, giving them a sweep of the New Year’s weekend home-and-home series with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, who found out in the morning that his team would be without Panarin and defenseman Patrik Nemeth (a non-COVID issue, the Rangers said), called the victory "very satisfying.’’

"They come at you,’’ Gallant said. "They’ve got a lot of talent . . . Everybody was ready to play today and compete, and that’s the only way we beat that team today.’’

Zibanejad, who has six goals and three assists in his last six games, said he didn’t feel pressure to step up with Panarin out.

"When a guy like that is out . . . I think everyone has to chip in a little bit more,’’ he said after his eighth career hat trick. "Obviously, when we have that [first-line] role and he’s not there, then I wouldn’t say it’s more pressure on us. I think we want to be there to help out even more.’’

Chris Kreider, who leads the Rangers in goals (19), served as a playmaker, setting up all of Zibanejad’s goals.

"It was Opposite Day today,’’ Zibanejad joked. "He has [playmaking] in his game as well. I mean, obviously, he’s a goal- scorer. But he makes great passes, and you’ve just got to be ready for them.’’

If beating the Lightning in a shootout Friday night in Tampa — when Tampa Bay was without top goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and was playing the second game of a back-to-back — wasn’t enough to impress the skeptics, then this one should.

Vasilevskiy was out of COVID protocol and back in net for Tampa Bay, and forward Anthony Cirelli (COVID) and defenseman Erik Cernak (injury) also returned for the Lightning.

What does recording back-to-back wins over the Lightning (21-8-5) say about the Rangers (21-8-4)?

"I think it speaks to a little bit of growth,’’ Adam Fox said. "Not only do we beat a good team, we did a good job holding the lead that we got early.

And I think we’re going to have to do a lot more of that if we want to be respected around the league.’’

Zibanejad scored a power-play goal at 7:44 of the first period and added a second power-play goal (on a four-on-three advantage) to make it 2-0 at 12:37 of the period. Ryan Strome made it 3-0 when he took a pass from Barclay Goodrow and beat Vasilevskiy with a wicked wrist shot at 14:53 of the first.

Shesterkin was magnificent, making 18 first-period saves to preserve the lead, including six on a Lightning power play during the final 1:57 of the period. The last of the six was a snazzy glove stop on a slap shot by Mikhail Sergachev that brought the Garden crowd to its feet.

Zibanejad completed his hat trick at 16:53 of the second period when he drove the net and tapped in a feed from Kreider for his 11th goal.

After the on-ice crew cleaned up all the hats that had been thrown onto the playing surface, the Lightning challenged the goal, alleging Zibanejad kept the play going when he hit the puck with a high stick. The challenge failed, however.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.