Mika Zibanejad scores twice, Rangers hold off Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. — The new year started off on the right note for the Rangers. They took advantage of a Florida team playing its third game in four nights and beat the Panthers, 5-3, on Sunday at FLA Live Arena to complete a two-game trip in which they took three of a possible four points.

“Of course you want all four, and I feel like we played well enough to get all four,’’ Vincent Trocheck said. “In Tampa [on Thursday], it comes down to a shootout. Anybody can win a shootout [and there were] two really good goalies, obviously. But I think you look at it . . . three out of four is pretty good.’’

“I’m real happy with it, definitely,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said of the 1-0-1 trip. “You’re winning . . . and you’re building points up. We come back from the Christmas break with three tough games, and we got three points out of it. You want better, but the road trip was tough. Tampa is a great team, Florida is a good team, and I think if you leave here with three out of four points, I’ll take it.’’

Against the Panthers, the Rangers got two goals from Mika Zibanejad, a goal and an assist each from Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Trocheck, and a pair of assists each from Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox to snap a two-game skid.

The Rangers (20-12-6) will face the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Zibanejad’s first goal, at 14:36 of the first period, gave the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead. He was the beneficiary of puck luck after skating in alone on goalie Sergei Bobrovsky but losing control of the puck. It still trickled through Bobrovsky’s legs.

Zibanejad’s second goal (his 18th of the season), at 10:30 of the second period, made it 2-0.

Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak, getting a surprise start for the Rangers, was solid for the first period-and-a-half before Florida’s Nick Cousins beat him with a shot from the right wing to pull the Panthers within 2-1 at 13:57.

Halak, 37, playing for the first time since Dec. 17, made 32 saves. He won for the third time in his last four starts and is 3-6-1 overall.

“He’s on our team,’’ Gallant said when asked why he started Halak even though No. 1 goalie Igor Shesterkin was rested.

“No goalie in the NHL is going to play 82 games,’’ Gallant said. “Igor’s played great; Jaro’s played really good. [Halak] just had . . . one bad game, and we liked the way he’s played. He’s a big part of our group. And that was in the plan, and that’s what we stick with.’’

Kakko, playing his second straight game on the top line with Zibanejad and Kreider, set up Zibanejad’s second goal and Kreider’s 17th goal, which made it 3-1 at 15:44.

Both times Kakko sent nifty passes to teammates standing in front of the net and they were able to convert.

“He was outstanding,’’ Gallant said. “I thought he was great. He made some great plays on those goals, and you know, even in Tampa, I thought he played a hard, gritty game . . . So I really liked the way he’s played the last couple for sure.’’

Florida (16-18-4), which has lost five of its last six games, managed to stay close thanks to goals by Sam Bennett and former Ranger Eric Staal.

Bennett scored on a power play at 19:02 of the second period to pull the Panthers within 3-2. Then, after Trocheck’s power-play goal at 1:38 of the third period, Staal scored at 2:53 to pull Florida within 4-3.

Panarin scored his 10th goal of the season at 10:04 of the third to restore the Rangers’ two-goal lead.

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.