The New York Rangers remained perfect in outdoor games, notching a 5-1 win over the Panthers at loanDepot Park. Mika Zibanejad notched the first ever Winter Classic hat trick, adding two assists for good measure. Artemi Panarin lit the lamp twice and added an assist while Alexis Lafreniere tallied three helpers. Igor Shesterkin was strong throughout, stopping 36 of 37 shots, in the win. Now the key for New York is to build off this victory, which ended a three-game losing streak, and make sure it’s not a one-off event.
Game recap:
Rangers lines in Winter Classic:
Panarin-Zibanejad-Cuylle
Perreault-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Brodzinski-Dowling-Raddysh
Berard-Carrick-Rempe
Gavrikov-Fox
Robertson-Schneider
Soucy-Borgen
Shesterkin
Quick
Scratches: Laba (upper-body injury), Vaakanainen, Blidh
IR: Miller (upper-body injury)
LTIR: Edström (lower-body injury), Sheary (lower-body injury)
A few thoughts:
1) Zibanejad, as part of the hat trick, tied Chris Kreider and Camille Henry for the Rangers franchise record for power-play goals with 116 after his first-period score. Add in being named to the Swedish Olympic team that morning and it was a pretty good 16-hour span for Zib. He now has notched 10 points over his last seven outings (four goals, six helpers) and is up to 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 42 games.
For all the hate the Rangers’ fanbase loves to give Zibanejad, he has shown he can be a player that can carry a team. That was not the case the prior two seasons, but Zibanejad came to camp a man on a mission and he has been highly productive, Zibanejad is up to 265 tallies and 359 helpers in 691 contests on Broadway.
2) Almost as important as Zibanejad’s five points were the three assists by Lafreniere. Panarin tallying a pair of goals and adding an assist is almost ho-hum, because it is the norm, not an aberration. Thought of by many as a first round bust, Laf has failed to build off his strong 2023 playoffs and start to the 2024-25 season. Like the Rangers, Laf has to use this game as a springboard and produce consistently. If not, it’s just a single event.
3) Adam Fox’s return has sparked the power play, even if he doesn’t do anything specific or score on the man-advantage, The way he reads plays and creates space and angles makes a massive difference. New York is 3-for-4 since Fox returned Wednesday after missing a month of action.
The penalty kill was 5-for-6, which was huge in the win. Florida cut it to 3-1 on the man advantage but was unable to make it any closer until Panarin notched his second of the contest on the power play drawn by Matt Rempe. Zib got the empty netter shorthanded, continuing the special teams dominance.
4) The bottom six are short on talent. Once JT Miller returns, look for Will Cuylle to skate on the third line, joined by Sam Carrick, who moved up in the game Friday, We could see Cuylle-Carrick-Taylor Raddysh with Brett Berard-Jonny Brodzinski-Rempe as the fourth line.
5) Even with the win, New York is still a team toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings: It is in 15th place by points percentage (.523) and 11th in actual points (45). If the team uses this game as a springboard and reels off a stretch of strong play and points earned before February’s Olympic break, then the team is likely to remain intact. If not, general manager Chris Drury’s will slice and dice the squad prior to March trade deadline.
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