Zibanejad hat trick as Rangers beat Lightning

NEW YORK » Mika Zibanejad set up many of Chris Kreider’s team-leading 19 goals this season. On Sunday, it was Kreider getting assists on each of Zibanejad’s three scores.

Zibanejad had his eighth career hat trick, Igor Shesterkin stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

“First game of 2022, let’s flip that,” Zibanejad said of his play with Kreider. “He has that in his game as well. He’s a goal-scorer, but he makes great passes and you have to be ready for them. That was the case today.”

Ryan Strome also scored and Adam Fox had two assists to help New York win for the third time in five games (3-1-1). The Rangers beat the Lightning for the second time in three days after a 4-3 shootout victory at Tampa, Florida, on Friday night.

New York was without star forward Artemi Panarin, who was placed in COVID-19 protocols Sunday.

“All of our players stepped up,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s very satisfying. You play a good team like that over there, they come at you, they have a lot of talent . ... Shesty played a great game, power play did its job. Everybody was ready to play today and compete.” DEVILS 4, CAPITALS 3 WASHINGTON » Nico Hischier scored his second goal of the game with 2:04 left in overtime to give the Devils a victory over the Washington Capitals.

Washington rallied late in regulation to force overtime, with Nic Dowd pulling the Capitals within a goal with 6:38 remaining and Conor Sheary tying it with 3:47 left.

“It was a tie game, so it’s nothing lost yet,’ Hischier said. “So it’s really important, especially in a packed house, everybody felt the energy from Washington. So it’s just really important to stay focused and understand that it’s not over yet and kind of play with the mindset that you just tied up the game. So that’s how I do it and I think everybody understood that.”