In Newark Thursday night, Mika Zibanejad scored a hat trick and had four points Thursday in a 4-3 New York Rangers win over the Devils.
Zibanejad’s third goal of the night was the game-winner in the third period.
Mika Zibanejad had a hat triuck and assist in win over Devils – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
“Me and [Zuccarello] were out there for a while and he turned the corner and got some space from his guy and I tried to beat my guy to the net, and it was a great pass, as always,” Zibanejad said. “You just have to get open with [Zuccarello] on the ice because he puts it right on the tape. I tried to make a move and get it up and it went in.”
Chris Kreider also scored for New York; for Zibanejad, it was his 20th of the season on the winner.
“The way we’re working, we’re trying to use each other out there as much as possible, trying to use the things we’re good at and implement that in our game,” Zibanejad said of his linemates. “It’s just clicking for us right now.”
The Rangers are 5-2-0 in their last seven.
Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves to get the win.
“A couple of close calls the last couple of minutes, but overall, we played a really strong game and didn’t give them much time in our end,” said Lundqvist, who has won his past four starts.
Those close calls were a result of egregious give aways in their own zone.
Nico Hischier, Marcus Johansson and Egor Yakovlev scored for New Jersey who dropped to 1924-7.
The Devils had a 2-0 lead early in the first period, mostly off turnovers.
“When we got down 2-0, we just kept playing,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “We weren’t shooting the puck enough because we had zone time 5-on-5 but our penalty kill wasn’t up to snuff. That goal at end of first was huge and maybe swung the tide.”
The Rangers improved to 22-21-7.
[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Devils highlights]
Keith Kinkaid made 21 saves in the loss.
“They’re a good cycle team, puck-moving team,” Kinkaid said. “They get pucks to the net, they find an open opportunity, like they did for the fourth one, and they’re going to capitalize with their best player. Zibanejad had opportunity after opportunity. He was their best player, especially on the power play.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.