Mika Zibanejad, early within the Rangers’ playoff run final season, might have wanted to remind himself what he’s able to on the ice, however the workforce’s No. 1 middle seemed fairly certain of himself on opening night time of the 2022-23 season.
Zibanejad scored twice and was a menace on particular groups because the Rangers defeated the Lightning, 3-1, Tuesday night time at Madison Sq. Backyard, in a extremely anticipated rematch of the 2021-22 Jap Convention finals.
It didn't matter to the Rangers, nonetheless, who was on the opposite finish of the ice. A win to begin the season is a win to begin the season.
A lot was made from the way in which Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust took Zibanejad out of the primary few video games of the primary spherical of the playoffs final season, and the 29-year-old Swede admitted it acquired in his head. There was no signal of that apprehension Tuesday, even with Zibanejad drawing a bulk of the matchups in opposition to the Lightning’s loaded high unit of Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Level.
“It’s a stability that it's a must to have respect and perceive what they’re able to doing, however on the similar time, not lose sight of what you’re able to doing what they need to be afraid of,” Zibanejad advised The Publish in the beginning of coaching camp.
And boy, did the remainder of the NHL get a reminder of what they need to be afraid of on the subject of Zibanejad.
The second and third durations rapidly turned the sport right into a particular groups battle, one which Zibanejad was in the course of at each level.
The Rangers have been additionally right down to 11 forwards after Vitali Kravtsov went to the locker room within the first interval. The Russian wing had absorbed a success from Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who seemingly added slightly additional welcome-to-the-NHL nudge into the boards.
After only one penalty was known as via the opening 20 minutes, the refs handed out 5 within the center body and 4 within the third, together with two directly in opposition to the Rangers to offer the Lightning a five-on-three benefit within the second interval.
That resulted within the Lightning’s lone tally of the night time, with Ok’Andre Miller within the field for tripping and Barclay Goodrow alongside him for elbowing, Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin swallowed up a one-timer from Nikita Kucherov, however a shot from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos discovered its means via to tie the rating at 1-1 simply over 9 minutes into the second interval.
Permitting the Rangers’ high power-play unit to get warmed up was Tampa Bay’s first mistake. It wasn’t till their fourth and remaining stretch with the man-advantage that the Rangers capitalized, when Zibanejad blasted a one-timer from his candy spot within the left faceoff circle for the 2-1 lead at 5:11. Barclay Goodrow then capped the scoring, tipping in a Ryan Lindgren shot from the purpose later within the third.
“He was excellent,” head coach Gerard Gallant stated of Zibanejad. “I imply, PK, energy play, the shorthanded aim, the power-play aim, the road performed nice. The workforce performed nice. However he was positively the chief.”
The Rangers’ penalty kill — an space by which the membership excelled in the course of the preseason — fended off 5 of the Lightning’s six energy performs. And when Vincent Trocheck was known as for holding simply over two minutes into the second interval, Chris Kreider and Zibanejad managed to use strain all around the ice regardless of being down a person.
Zibanejad then crashed the web and roofed a nasty backhander over Tampa Bay netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy to place the Rangers on the board with a shorthanded tally at 3:25 of the second. It marked the fourth time in Zibanejad’s profession that he collected a shorthanded aim and a power-play aim in the identical recreation.
“Clearly it’s good to see the puck go in,” Zibanejad stated. “Nevertheless it’s quite a bit nicer to get that win and to get that good begin. And never simply the win, however the way in which we received at the moment and the way in which we performed, I believed that was an excellent factor for us.”
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