In New York, Mika Zibanejad scored twice, and the Rangers notched a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday in the season opener for both clubs. 
“Obviously a good team; we know them well from last year,” Zibanejad said. “But it’s a new season, everyone starts at zero, so it was nice to get that start.”
Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for the Rangers.
The game was a rematch of the Eastern Conference Final from last season, won by the Lightning, 4-2.
“We competed, we just didn’t execute at all,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. ” … If you’re going to give up a short-handed goal and a power-play goal, you’re making it tough on yourself, and it ended up being the difference.”
Steven Stamkos was the lone goal scorer for the Bolts; his goal tied the game, 1-1, in the second period. Stamkos’ goal was off the power play on a 5-on-3.
“It’s the first game,” Stamkos said. “The execution wasn’t quite there. A lot of special teams [play] and they won that battle; we gave up a [short-handed goal] and then we give up one on the power play. We talked about taking too many penalties and myself included on that one, and you’ve just got to bear down. So, you’ve just got to get better execution wise.”
Zibanejad hit for a 1-0 Rangers lead in the middle frame off a shorthanded goal.
“Obviously it’s nice to see the puck go in and not stand here after Game 15 and not having scored,” Zibanejad said. “It’s a lot nicer to get that win and get that good start. … The way we won today and the way we played, I thought that was a good thing for us.”
Zibanejad’s second strike og the game came of the power play in the third period.
“This is what I expected from our group tonight, it really is,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. ” … Our team looked like a different team than we did last year early in the year, so hopefully we can continue that.”
Barclay Goodrow scored in the third period to give the Rangers a little breathing room with a 3-1 lead. His goal was a tip in off a shot from the point from Ryan Lindgren .
“Everyone loves him; he’s a great player, great teammate,” the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba said of Zibanejad. “He had a great playoffs (led Rangers with 24 points in 20 games) and obviously coming out and starting out like that, he’s a special player. … That was exciting. We were all waiting to get back here and start the season with all the talk and everything that happened over the summer.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves in the Tampa loss.
“Their power play is good, but at the same time, I think we were a little sloppy, especially on our power play; we gave up a short-handed goal, which is never good,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. ” … At the end of the day, we know we have better in here.”
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