Zibanejad has 6 points in Rangers’ rout as Wolf Pack coaches step in

NEW YORK — Mika Zibanejad had three goals and three assists in New York’s sevengoal second period, and the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9-0Wednesday night.

Pavel Buchnevich had two goals and two assists — all in the second period — and Brendan Lemieux, Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba and Filip Chytil also scored in the Rangers’ most decisive victory since beating New Jersey 9-0 on March 31, 1986. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots for his sixth career shutout.

“I thought we were ready to go from the start,” said Zibanejad. “It was a great effort, we really played together. . Obviously, we got rewarded, especially in the second period. It was an amazing feeling and a nice win tonight.”

The Rangers were without head coach David Quinn and assistants Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown due to NHL C OVID -19 protocols. Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate head coach Gord Murphy, and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury were behind the bench.

“You didn’t have much time to think about it ,” Knob l au ch said when asked about p re game preparation as the acting head coach.

Brian Elliott started in goal for Philadelphia and allowed five goals on 13 shots before being replaced midway through the second period as the Flyers lost for the third time in four games. Carter Hart finished with 12 saves.

Zibanej ad scored three consecutive goals in a 10:10 span of the second for his fifth career hat trick. The Swedish center also topped 400 career points.

Zibanej ad converted a short-handed breakaway at 8:27 on the first shot Hart saw in relief of Elliott. Panarin found Zibanejad dashing through the offensive zone on the power play before Zibanejad lifted the puck over Hart’s glove with 5:31 left in the period. Zibanejad completed the natural hat trick with an evenstrength goal at with 1:23 remaining to make it 8-0.