For his next trick, Mika Zibanejad will slip into the laboratory and not only develop an antidote for coronavirus, but arrange for its approval and distribution across the continent by nightfall.
Seriously, folks, there seems to be no limit to the heights the Rangers ’No. 138 can scale in the wake of his spectacular five-goal performance that included the winner in Thursday’s 6-5 overtime victory over the Capitals in a riveting, raucous, heavyweight match that shook the Garden to its foundations.
It was, for a moment, May the way the Blueshirts celebrated in the left corner after Zibanejad’s sizzling backhand off a breakaway headman feed from Artemi Panarin at 0: 33, in the same place and in the same way they celebrated Derek Stepan’s Game 7 overtime winner against the Capitals in the conference semifinals.
“Anyone who was here tonight will never forget it,” Garden CEO Jim Dolan told The Post after waiting out a horde to congratulate Zibanejad at his locker. “A special night, right?”
A special night, indeed, and all the more for this team that moved to within two points of the second wild-card Islanders, who were beaten in Ottawa , and hopscotched the Carolina team that lost in Philadelphia into ninth place. The Blueshirts have 15 games to go, the islanders and the Hurricanes .
This could still all go sideways, but this was likely the Rangers’ finest night since eliminating the Canadiens in the first round of the 2017 playoffs with Zibanejad becoming the third Ranger in history to score five goals in a game, following Mark Pavelich on Feb. 25, 2016 and Don Murdoch on Oct. 14, ,
You know what? It is possible the trade general manager Jeff Gorton engineered with Ottawa on July , in
in Which the Blueshirts acquired Zibanejad and a second-rounder in exchange for Derick Brassard and a seventh-rounder may eclipse the deal in 2016 in which then-GM Glen Sather acquired Ryan McDonagh’s rights from Montreal for a package fronted by Scott Gomez.
Oh yes it is, for not only is there nearly a six-year age difference between the centers who were swapped after the Blueshirts were blown out of the 2016 first round by Pittsburgh, but in the time since the deal, Zibanejad has recorded goals and (points in) games while Big Game Brass has posted goals and 229 points in 728 games for the Senators, Penguins, Panthers, Avalanche and Islanders.
You don’t expect a night like this from anyone. Well, maybe from Alex Ovechkin, who scored twice in this one, including his (th to tie it at 5-5 at) of the third period with the Caps operating with the extra attacker. Or, maybe from Panarin, who instead picked up three assists, including the home run feed for the winner.
“An unbelievable night for him and for all of us,” Panarin told The Post. “He is a beautiful player who has so much talent and means so much to us. When I’m on the ice with him, I just enjoy it. I don’t know what other people think, but I know Mika is elite. We all do.
“Why? Do you doubt him? ”
Zibanejad, captain without portfolio, has scored goals in his past games while adding six assists in that stretch. He has goals and points in his last 33 games. Before this is done, the 26 – year-old center might even crowd out Panarin in the race for the Hart Trophy in which the Russian Rockette is firmly entrenched.
“It feels like the moment is never too big for him and that’s a rare asset in this league,” Ryan Strome said of Zibanejad. “He thrives on it.
“He wants the puck on his stick, he knows how good he is, and the best part about it is that he’ll come to the rink tomorrow and be humble, put his head down and go to work. It was just a real special night and if you looked at our faces after he scored the last goal, we were just in awe of him. ”
It was a night like that for Zibanejad, who scored two goals on the power play, two at five-on-five and the last one, of course, at three-on-three after getting behind Tom Wilson to take Panarin’s feed. But it was a special night for the Rangers, too, who never backed down, rarely backed up and gave as good as they got against a big, physical team, and right from the get-go, Ryan Lindgren crunching Hey Mr. Wilson in the corner 3: 26 into the contest.
It was a heavyweight match and no one was more of a heavyweight than Zibanejad, who, after conquering COVID – , intends to tackle the climate crisis.
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