In Sunrise, Mika Zibanejad scored twice, once off the power play, to stake the New York Rangers to a 2-0 lead on Sunday over the Panthers.
Zibanejad hit for his first goal in the opening period on the power play, he split the Florida defense before mishandling the puck into the net.
“We trust each other,” Zibanejad said. “We trust that we can be a good power play and that we are a good power play and that the goals will come. And they did so today, so that was nice.”
Jaroslav Halak got the start for the Rangers and made 32 saves in the win.
New York improved to 20-12-6
After Zibanejad’s second in the middle frame, Florida got one back off a goal from Nick Cousins and a 2-1 deficit.
“I thought they did a good job tonight,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “They moved the puck around, and it was nice to score a power-play goal.”
Kaapo Kakko set up the second goal from Zibanejad off a great pass from below the Florida goal line.
Kakko then set up Chris Kreider on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Adam Fox to Kakko to Kreider in the slot for quick wrist shot and a 2-1 lead.
Sam Bennett got that goal back on the power to get the Panthers back within one at 3-2 at the end of the second period.
“I thought we battled hard tonight,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “We kept trying to push back, and then they were able to get that extra one to keep us two behind. So we had a good push, but it wasn’t enough.”
In the third period, Vincent Trocheck followed Kreider down the ice on the right side of the ice and took a pass from Kreider at the near pipe of the net for a 4-2 advantage to the Rangers.
“It’s nice to get in the win column after the break, obviously,” Trocheck said. “A tough road trip, two really good teams, Tampa Bay and Florida, so to get three out of four [points], we’re pretty happy with it.”
Eric Staal closed the gap to one, again, at 4-3.
Florida dropped to 16-18-4.
“I think our team knows what our team needs to do to have success. I mean, it’s not a secret,” Cousins said. “When we get in on the forecheck, get in on the body and make it physical on their [defense], that’s when we have success. When we’re turning the puck over and gifting them odd-man rushes, that’s never a recipe for success. So, it’s just a matter of doing that consistently.”
Artemi Panarin skated the puck from the left boards to the mid slot, tried to pass back, but the puck caromed back to him for a quick shot on net and a 5-3 final score.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves in the loss.
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