Rangers Rewind: Zibanejad, Zuccarello propel Rangers to 5–2 win

The Rangers scored four goals in the second period to beat the Panthers, 5–2

The Rangers finally got their first regulation win of the season on the backs of Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello and Alexandar Georgiev. The Blueshirts didn’t have a great first period but came out blazing in the second, putting three goals on the board en route to a 5–2 win against the Florida Panthers.

Welcome to the Rangers Rewind, folks.

Plays of the Game

The Rangers came out flat in the 1st period, as they lost the shot battle 14–5. Vincent Trocheck capitalized on a power play to put the Panthers up 1–0.

The Rangers, desperately needing a spark, got one from their number-one center in the second period. Mika Zibanejad made a strong move to duck around the net, then snuck one past Michael Hutchinson shorthanded to tie the game at 1. This was just the start of a big night for Zibanejad.

Alexandar Georgiev played a great game, making 36 saves, many of them in the 1st and 3rd period. But at a critical point in the 2nd, he made a flurry of saves to keep the game tied. It’s good to see Georgiev, who was lit up for seven goals in his first start, play well and get his first win.

The Rangers went to the power play in the 2nd, and they heeded the advice from their head coach: shoot the puck when you have a lane. Mats Zuccarello, noted passer, took a shot off a pass from Neal Pionk, and got the puck through traffic and into the back of the net. It was Zuccarello’s first goal of the season and a huge one in the game.

I mentioned Zibanejad had a big night, right? Once again the Rangers found themselves on the power play, and Zibanejad delivered. He took a pass from Pionk, who froze Aleksander Barkov with a nice stutter step at the blue line, and wired one into the near-side corner to give the Rangers a two-goal cushion. Zibanejad has been red hot lately, notching five goals in his last five games.

Brendan Smith got into a scrap with Maxim Mamim, and oh boy did he let Mamim know he wasn’t happy with him.

It was a big night for guys whose last names begin with the letter Z. In the 3rd period, with the Rangers hoarding the classic two-goal lead, Zibanejad won a face-off back to Zuccarello, who snapped a quick shot past Hutchinson to pad the Rangers lead. It’s good to see Zuccarello get going for two reasons: he’s a fan-favorite, and he’s boosting that trade value of his.

Mike Hoffman scored on a wraparound to cut the Rangers’ lead to 4–2 in the 3rd period. Clearly, it was a big night for wraparounds.

Neal Pionk, who was (according to my eyes, at least) the Rangers best defenseman tonight, made some big defensive plays with his squad nursing the lead. Here he made a really strong play on the penalty kill to fight off a fore-checker and ice the puck.

Finally, top-line winger Jesper Fast sealed the game as he negated an icing and fed Kevin Hayes for an empty-net goal.

Now for the accolades:

The Star: Mika Zibanejad

Not a bad night for DJ-Zbad, huh? Guess the guy knows what he’s doing with his body in the off-season. For real though, it was a great performance for Zibanejad. He’s the Rangers’ best forward and he played like it tonight, earning four points.

Play of the Game: Zibanejad’s shorthanded goal

The Rangers needed something to get them going after a lackluster 1st period. Zibanejad delivered that with his shorthanded goal. The Rangers didn’t look back from there, notching three more goals.

Meme of the Night

It’s pretty simple: don’t mess with Brendan Smith.

And that’ll do it for this edition of the Rangers Rewind. See y’all Thursday.