Mika Zibanejad's late goal helps Rangers bounce back with win over Capitals
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad and left wing Alexis Lafrenière celebrate the team's 3-1 win over the Capitals in an NHL game Saturday in Washington. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
If Mika Zibanejad really has finally shaken off his season-long struggles and truly is turning his fortunes around, as it appears is the case, the second half of this season could be interesting for the Rangers.
Zibanejad has looked more and more like his old self during the past week or two, and never more than he did Saturday night in Washington.
Late in regulation, he created the winning goal out of nothing to propel the Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Capitals that reversed Friday night’s outcome and gave the Blueshirts a split of their two-game weekend set against the East Division leader.
"Obviously, it feels nice when you can contribute offensively,’’ said Zibanejad, who knocked Washington defenseman Brenden Dillon off the puck in the Capitals’ zone, then picked up the puck and whipped a shot over goaltender Ilya Samsonov’s shoulder from a tight angle to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead with 2:32 remaining.
"I mean, that’s what’s expected out of me, obviously, but I’ve been feeling — I’ve said this before — I’ve been feeling pretty good the last few weeks, and I feel like myself again,’’ Zibanejad said. "I just try to play hard, try to play my game, and I just trust that it will come.’’
It is starting to come in bunches now for Zibanejad. Saturday’s goal was his seventh of the season and fourth in the last three games, coming on the heels of his three-goal, three-assist second period in Wednesday’s 9-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Garden.
Zibanejad, who also had an assist Saturday, has seven goals and 19 points and is beginning to look a lot more like a No. 1 center than at any previous time this season.
With the Rangers (13-13-4) playing their third game without their coaching staff — coach David Quinn and assistants Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown remain unavailable under the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol — they found themselves in the same situation Saturday as they were Friday: holding a 1-0 lead after two periods, this time on a first-period goal by Pavel Buchnevich.
On Friday, Alexander Ovechkin scored two quick goals late in the third period to steal the two points from the Rangers. This time, after the Capitals tied the score on a goal by John Carlson 5:55 into the third period, the Rangers dug in and held tight until Zibanejad won it for them.
"I was really worried about the confidence,’’ acting Rangers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It could have easily been, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ But guys were positive, especially the leaders were talking, and just wanted to make sure we finish this one out. And I don’t think there was panic at all.’’
"I guess you’d say we flipped the script,’’ said Rangers goaltender Keith Kinkaid, who made 28 saves to earn his second victory. "I think our attention to detail and our blocking the shots at the end of the game was huge. I don’t know how many blocked shots we had, but guys were sacrificing their bodies, anything that it took.’’
For the record, the Rangers had 23 blocked shots in the game, including four each by Colin Blackwell and Brett Howden and three by Zibanejad. Howden also scored his first goal of the season, into an empty net with 28.0 seconds remaining.
To Knoblauch, Zibanejad’s blocked shots were almost as important as his goal.
"[The goal] was very key, obviously, but also later in the game, I know there was one very key blocked shot, if not two,’’ Knoblauch said. "And you know, you have to do that. Your best players have to be your best players. And I thought tonight, our top guys were.’’
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.
