Mika makes most of shot at redemption

MONTREAL — Mika Zibanejad is well aware of what’s going on around him, and all of the subsequent implications.

So it’s no surprise that he had been open about his struggles through the first three games of his first postseason as a Ranger, and was just as open about feeling a bit of redemption when he scored the overtime winner in his team’s 3-2 victory over the Canadiens in Game 5 of their first-round series on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

With the Rangers now up in the best-of-seven contest, 3-2, and with a chance to close out the series with Game 6 on Saturday night at the Garden, Zibanejad thought back to the other overtime game in this series. That was Game 2 at the Bell Centre when he was defensively negligent as Alexander Radulov scored the game-winner.

“Great feeling to get the win, and to get that goal, personally, a little bit of revenge from last overtime,” Zibanejad said. “It’s just an awesome feeling.”

The Game 5 winner was the result of his newly reformed line, with Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchenvich, continuing its strong play. Kreider came barreling over the blue line and his shot was de- flected, bouncing along the ice until it got to Zibanejad near the far post. From there, he lifted it over Carey Price and then jumped backwards into the glass.

“Blacked out, to be honest with you,” Zibanejad said.

Earlier in the overtime, there had been a tic-tac-toe passing play, from Buchnevich to Zibanejad and then to Kreider, who just whiffed on a golden opportunity while alone in front.

But the hope for coach Alain Vigneault is that the trio can keep rolling, because he needs them to be more than just a skilled unit with offensive capabilities. He needs more plays like Zibanejad’s back-check with 7:50 left in the overtime that negated a Montreal scoring chance.

“I thought they were real strong, not just making plays with the puck, but they were back-checking real hard,” Vigneault said. “We spent a lot of time in overtime in their end, and they had a real strong finish to this game.”

Like any good linemate, Zibanejad was happy he was the one to be the hero, but he said a win was more important than any personal glory.

“Obviously nice when you get to do it. But at that point in the playoffs, you don’t really care who scores,” he said. “You’re glad you get the win. Great feeling.”