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.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) is congratulated by teammates Chris Kreider (20) and Kaapo Kakko (24) after scoring his third goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning, during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Jan 2, 2022, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
(AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
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.”
Shesterkin had 18 saves in the first period, 11 in the second and nine in the third for his fourth career shutout. He improved to 15-4-2 with a 2.09 goals-against average this season.
“I need to play even better than I did today,” Shesterkin said through an interpreter.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, playing for the first time in 12 days after coming off COVID-19 protocols earlier in the day, had 17 saves as the Lightning lost their third straight (0-2-1) after…
Source : foxnews
