TAMPA, Fla. — After it had all ended, Mika Zibanejad sat at a podium alongside Chris Kreider, holding again tears.
“It’s simply denial,” he mentioned. “I’m empty proper now. I don’t know what to say.”
A day earlier than the unceremonious and season-ending 2-1 loss to the Lightning, Zibanejad had solid an upbeat tone, describing the problem of going through Anthony Cirelli’s line as enjoyable. However that might not have been farther from his expertise on Saturday night time, when he capped an underwhelming convention ultimate with one other sport wherein his line was successfully erased by Cirelli, Alex Killorn and Brandon Hagel.
Zibanejad, who at one level had a eight-game factors streak and appeared just like the Rangers’ finest participant this postseason, completed the convention ultimate with one even-strength purpose and one even-strength help. Although he managed to contribute on the ability play, he had no reply for the Lightning at five-on-five.
Coach Gerard Gallant would later say fatigue had quite a bit to do with the Rangers’ points within the again half of the sequence, saying they felt the consequences of taking part in each different day for 40 days. A despondent Zibanejad refused to agree.
“There’s no fatigue,” he mentioned. “These are the video games that all of us wish to play. … Had nothing to do with it.”
However fatigue or not, Recreation 6 was a nadir for his struggles.
Gallant tried to throw a spark into the Rangers by mixing up his traces and having Zibanejad heart Alexis Lafreniere and Frank Vatrano. That backfired spectacularly, and Gallant returned the traces to their traditional configuration following the primary interval.
When the puck did come Zibenajad’s manner within the offensive zone, it appeared to commonly discover a manner off his stick. His first shot on internet got here with 6:55 left within the sport, and he would end with simply two.
For the reason that begin of the second spherical, when the Hurricanes performed Jordan Staal’s line towards the Rangers’ prime group, Zibenejad struggled to interrupt by towards checking traces. In that sense, Saturday was a end result — wherein each hassle compounded.
There was no tactical reply for Gallant. He wasn’t going to shelter his prime line as a response — Zibanejad merely needed to discover a manner. That was how the Rangers broke by in Recreation 7 towards the Hurricanes, when Zibanejad had two even-strength assists and appeared to have gotten previous his points.
However Cirelli was a step above something the Hurricanes threw at Zibanejad. On Saturday morning, Tampa coach Jon Cooper referred to as him “[Nikita] Kucherov with out the puck” — waxing poetic about Cirelli’s means to learn performs on protection.
As a lot as something, that matchup tilted the steadiness of the sequence.
And Zibanejad, with the remainder of the Rangers, is now headed house.
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