Mika Zibanejad scores hat trick against his former team as Rangers win again

KANATA, Ontario — Right now, that trade that Ottawa made when it sent Mika Zibanejad to the Rangers for Derick Brassard in the summer of 2016 isn’t looking so good for the Senators, is it?

The Rangers scored two power-play goals (Panarin one-timed a nifty pass from Zibanejad) in three attempts, and the line of Panarin, Zibanejad and Buchnevich combined for nine points, with Panarin getting a goal and an assist, and Buchnevich three assists.

“I thought I made a pretty good pass to give him an empty-netter, but apparently he didn’t want it,’’ Zibanejad said. “I’m happy I was ready for it, and it went in, through his legs. And I think it hit the post or something. But yeah, it was an unbelievable play and I was just happy I was at the right spot.’’

Coach David Quinn was a lot more pleased after this win than after Thursday’s 6-4 win over Winnipeg. “I thought we were better in a lot of areas,’’ Quinn said. “I thought our puck support was better, I thought we defended better, I thought we generated a little bit more offensive zone time, and our special teams were huge tonight.’’

Both players seemed much better than they were in the opener — everyone was, really — and Quinn had praise for Fox, who made the pass to Panarin that resulted in Zibanejad’s pretty even-strength goal.

“I thought Fox had a really good game,’’ Quinn said. “He’s got great poise; he sees the ice so well, and for a guy that’s in his second game in the league, he looked composed out there.’’

Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves to earn the win.

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.