Zibanejad nets 6 more points on Flyers
Mika Zibanejad is finding the net again. He’s feeling good — and so are the Rangers.
Zibanejad had three goals and three assists, Adam Fox had five assists and the New York Rangers routed the Philadelphia Flyers 8-3 on Thursday night.
Zibanejad also had three goals and three assists in a 9-0 home win over the Flyers in their previous meeting eight days ago. He’s the first NHL player ever with six or more points in consecutive games against one opponent in the same regular season.
“The puck seems to go in right now,” Zibanejad said. “It’s nice to be able to contribute offensively for the team. It’s obviously a great feeling when you win and you can contribute.”
New York continued where it left off in this one. Pavel Buchnevich added two goals, and Ryan Strome, K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil also scored as the Rangers won their third straight and fifth in their last seven games.
“A lot of it is our top players executing plays,” acting coach Kris Knoblauch said of the Rangers’ recent success. “Just really capitalizing on our opportunities, really good opportunities, but capitalizing.”
Zibanejad has been at the forefront of late. He had a career-high 41 goals in just 57 games last season, but struggled through the first 27 games this year with just three tallies. That changed in last Wednesday’s win over the Flyers, and he’s up to 10 goals through 32 games.
“I don’t know if self-doubt is the right word, but it was a struggle obviously for me to get the puck in the net,” he said. “I try to stick by the work and trust myself that it’s going to come. Now it’s really been going for me and the whole team as well.”
Claude Giroux, Kevin Hayes and Sean Couturier scored for the slumping Flyers, who have lost four in a row and 10 of 14. PENGUINS 4, SABRES 0 » Kevyn Adams is tasked with trying to sift through the rubble of the Buffalo Sabres’ lost season.
The GM got an up-close look as head coach after interim Don Granato and assistant Matt Ellis were placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol a few hours before the opening faceoff provided a glimpse of just how far the Sabres have to go.
Jared McCann scored a pair of power-play goals, Casey DeSmith made 36 saves and Pittsburgh extended Buffalo’s winless streak to 16 straight.
“It’s terrible to lose in any way,” Adams said. “Ice level, press box level. Player, coach . ... You want better. What I said to the guys after the game is we’re all in it. We’re in it together.”
If Adams wants to search for a positive, there’s this: His team’s skid is the longest in the NHL since Pittsburgh went through an 0-17-1 stretch from Jan. 13 to Feb. 22, 2004. That was about 17 months before the Penguins landed Sidney Crosby in the 2005 draft and were turned into a perennial contender.
Crosby dished out three assists against the Sabres to become the eighth-fastest player in league history to score 1,300 career points. ISLANDERS 4, BRUINS 3, OT » Anthony Beauvillier scored 21 seconds into overtime and New York overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Bruins in the first major league sporting event in Boston with fans in attendance since the pandemic shutdown. A crowd of 2,191 — 12% of capacity — was at the TD Garden for the game. WILD 2, BLUES 0 » Kirill Kaprizov scored to pad his NHL rookie lead, Cam Talbot made 37 saves for his second shutout of the season and Minnesota beat St. Louis to stretch their franchise-record home winning streak to 11 games.
The Wild improved to 13-3 at Xcel Energy Center despite being outshot 37-11.
Talbot is 7-0 at home in his debut with Minnesota, with nine goals allowed. The Wild are 15-4-1 with four shutouts in their last 20 games.
AVALANCHE 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1 » Cale Makar, Gabe Landeskog and J.T. Compher each had a goal and an assist as Colorado won a statement game and pulled into a tie atop the West Division with Vegas. PREDATORS 7, RED WINGS 1 » Rocco Grimaldi scored four goals to tie a team record and lead Nashville. CAPITALS 4, DEVILS 3 » Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice, Alex Ovechkin kept his hot streak going with the 721st goal and Washington beat New Jersey for its eighth victory in nine games.
Ovechkin has scored eight times in his past nine games after what counted as a slow start for a player who has more goals than all but five players in league history. His team-leading 15th goal this season put him 10 back of Marcel Dionne for fifth place on the NHL’s all-time list. MAPLE LEAFS 3, SENATORS 2, OT» Justin Holl scored at 4:42 of overtime to lift Toronto past Ottawa. HURRICANES 4, BLUE JACKETS 3, OT » Sebastian Aho scored 1:26 into overtime to pace Carolina. BLACKHAWKS 3, PANTHERS 0 » Kevin Lankinen made 41 saves in his second career shutout, Patrick Kane and Brandon Hagel each had a goal and an assist, and Chicago beat Florida.
STARS 4, LIGHTNING 3 » Roope Hintz scored a breakaway goal with 1:21 left and Dallas edged Tampa Bay for the first time in five games this season in a rematch of Stanley Cup Final.