Zibanejad seeks consistency
MIKA Zibanejad, who has played as well since the trade deadline as he has all season, perhaps as well as he has in his two seasons on Broadway, feels there’s a reason why he’s been inconsistent.
After returning on Dec. 19 from a three-week concussion absence, Zibanejad found himself playing more cautious than normal, trying to believe everything was fine but admitting the concussion was in the back of his mind, ultimately slowing him down. And this was after missing two months last year with a broken fibula from which he was slow to regain form. Zibanejad has no doubt that injuries have set him back each of the last two years, preventing him from being his best, most steady self. “At least from my side it’s pretty obvious, just going through it. I’ve been trying to work through it and battle through it,” he told the Daily News Monday. “You miss that much time (last) season, I feel like it’s hard to get your rhythm back. And then an injury like this, when it comes to a head injury and it’s not the first time, you start thinking about it a little more, you’re aware of it.”
Players are evaluated on much more than just point production, but in the case of Zibanejad’s 2017-18 season, his streaks are mostly indicative of how things have gone. He was a point-a-game player through the first 22 games, half the points coming on the power play, before a hit by Darren Helm on Nov. 24 caused concussion symptoms. Upon returning he had nine points over his next 30 games.
Zibanejad enters Tuesday’s game against Columbus with 11 points in his last eight games, and eight points in the last four since Jesper Fast joined he and Chris Kreider on the top line.
“I think the work ethic has been there. The intentions are there. The battle level has been better this year,” Zibanejad says. “More confident (now.) I think when you get those points, when you get rewarded for that hard work, I think you look a little different because of the confidence you have.”
What he’s looked like lately is a player with renewed vigor committed to playing the 200-foot game Alain Vigneault harps on. He’s looked like the No. 1 center he and the Rangers hoped he’d be after Derek Stepan was traded and Zibanejad was given a five-year deal with an annual cap hit of $5.35 million.
Zibanejad has a plus-7.46 relative Corsi this season, meaning the Rangers’ shot-attempts totals are 7.46 percent better with Zibanejad on ice, fifth-best in the NHL among players who’ve played at least 500 minutes. And it’s telling considering the Blueshirts entered Monday with a league-worst 45.84 shot-attempts percentage. Zibanejad has a 51.58 shotattempts percentage, the only Ranger above 50 percent.