Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad determined to work through ‘hardest thing ever’
One day after his poor showing against the Winnipeg Jets, Mika Zibanejad opened up about his recent on-ice struggles with the New York Rangers.
“It’s the hardest thing ever,” Zibanejad said Wednesday, one day after his turnovers led directly to three goals against in a 6-3 loss to the Jets.
Along with his defensive woes, Zibanejad continues to struggle offensively. He has just two goals in 14 games; and as a former 41 goal-scorer and a key member of the top power-play unit, that simply isn’t good enough.
Despite this, Zibanejad seems determined to work through the struggles to try to find the game that was once so dominant for the Rangers.
“I can bury myself in negativity and make it worse, or I can try and learn from it,” Zibanejad reasoned.
When asked about Zibanejad’s play Tuesday, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette elected to defer to the team, as he often does, rather than singling out any one player. That being said, it is hard to ignore the obvious, which are that three turnovers leading to three goals in a 6-3 loss is about as bad as it gets.
“I can’t speak for Mika and where he’s at,” Laviolette said postgame. “Sometimes, not him, but sometimes when you are pushing offensively to try and make things happen, things can go the other way for us like they did for us tonight as a group, not specifically speaking about him.”
So, while Laviolette did not necessarily place any blame on Zibanejad, the fact of the matter is that he needs to be better. Much better.
On the surface, 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 14 games isn’t terrible production. But Zibanejad looks lost, defeated and down on the ice, shies away from contact and has been a turnover machine of late. He is tied with Alexis Lafreniere with a team-worst minus-6 rating and no matter which line he’s centered, that group has been weighted down with poor numbers in puck possession and scoring chances.
Perhaps the 31-year-old is playing hurt. He did leave the ice early in the second period against the Jets, missing a shift when in the dressing room, before returning and finishing the game. Both Laviolette and Zibanejad downplayed things, though neither provided an explanation.
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3 Zibanejad turnovers lead to goals in 6-3 loss
Tuesday was just the latest example of Zibanejad’s dip in play. Though the Rangers are not exactly the darlings of the analytics world, Zibanejad’s xGF of 41.88 percent, per Natural Stat Trick, is terrible this season. The Rangers have been outscored 11-5 with him on the ice 5v5 and out-chanced 101-70.
Laviolette likes to point out that Zibanejad typically is out there against other team’s top players, which is true. But it’s clear that he’s not winning enough battles nor being effective enough at either end of the rink.
This after a dismal showing as the Stanley Cup Playoffs progressed last spring. Among his postseason transgressions, Zibanejad failed to score a goal in his final 11 playoff games.
Then there was Tuesday against the Jets. Less than a minute into the first period, Zibanejad’s weak clearing attempt was held in at the left point by Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey. He quickly fed the puck to Mark Scheifele, who snapped it past Igor Shesterkin, and the Rangers were down 1-0 just 57 seconds into the game.
The second critical turnover came when Zibanejad skated the puck into the offensive zone, and just seemingly lost it as he attempted to make a pass. After he fanned on the pass, the Jets took the puck away and took off on a 2-on-1. Kyle Connor buried his shot off the rush to make it 3-2 late in the second period.
To cap it all off, Zibanejad had his pocket picked when skating with the puck in the neutral zone early in the third period. The Jets jumped into transition and Scheifele scored again to make it 4-2.
“There’s isolated instances for everybody out there,” explained Laviolette. “We could have done something different whether it be puck decisions or whether it be a little bit more responsibility when we’re pressing in the offensive zone. There’s definitely situations where we could have done things better.”
While Laviolette kept things about the team, it is hard not to single out Zibanejad here. As the No. 1 center already slumping to start the season, it is hard not to ignore these glaring issues, especially when they arise so frequently.
“It’s one of those games where you’re trying to punch away at them and generate offense,” Laviolette continued. “Sometimes you have to cover up and make sure that you’re not bleeding the other way. Those incidents, they cost us tonight.”
They certainly did cost the Rangers, who have struggled to play .500 hockey over the past several weeks. Their 4-4-0 record in that span is not solely Zibanejad’s fault, just as those three crucial giveaways were not the sole reason the Rangers lost to the Jets. But he’s an important player who plays important minutes. That means his play can often help dictate the Rangers’ fortunes.
His next chance to get back on track is Thursday, when the Rangers host the San Jose Sharks.
“I’m not happy about yesterday,” Zibanejad explained. “But if I think about it too much, I don’t think you’re going to see a very good player tomorrow.”
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