Zibanejad wins game for Rangers in shootout
TORONTO - Mika Zibanejad scored the shootout winner as the New York Rangers continued a scorching February with a 2-1 National Hockey League victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves and J.T. Miller scored the game-tying goal in the third period for the Rangers, who improved to 8-1-1 this month.
New York (39-19-2) moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division, now with 80 points.
Connor Brown scored the lone goal for Toronto (28-20-11), which fell to 1-7 in shootouts this season. Frederik Andersen had a stellar performance in defeat with 37 stops.
The Leafs hold the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division (68 points), two points back of Ottawa (70) and four back of Montreal.
Struggling in the new year and coming off an especially rough start (and win) against Winnipeg on Tuesday, Andersen was locked in early.
After Auston Matthews turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Andersen was there to stop Rick Nash, making a left pad save off Brandon Pirri in transition and then shut down a Mats Zuccarello attempt in tight.
Later, with the Leafs up 1-0 on the 15th goal of the year by Brown, Andersen came up with the biggest of 14 first-period saves, stretching to make a left pad stop on former Leaf Michael Grabner. Grabner had stolen the puck with Toronto on a power play, racing in to lead an odd-man Rangers rush.
The puck eventually found its way to New York captain Ryan McDonagh who fed Grabner crossice to his right, his attempt denied by the 27-year-old netminder in sparkling fasshion.
“We need him to be good,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said of Andersen before the game.
Andersen entered the night with an .894 save percentage since Jan. 1 and .913 overall on the season, his first with the Leafs.
New York was the better team for the first 20 minutes, generating a number of scoring opportunities in transition while capitalizing on Toronto’s mistakes in the defensive zone.