Rangers getting very best version of Mika Zibanejad at right time
NY Post
Regarding the Rangers, who just need to take care of business this weekend in D.C.
1. Two games in and we are seeing the best version of Mika Zibanejad, who has played with a heightened level of engagement on essentially every one of his 47 shifts at even-strength and on both specialty units.
He has been quicker and more dynamic. He is sharp, closing more quickly and using his body for leverage. Zibanejad is playing on the inside, looking to shoot when he has the puck while attacking his man and attacking the puck without it.
That is exactly what happened in the second period of Game 2 when No. 93 stripped the puck from Alex Ovechkin in the neutral zone and led an odd-man shorthanded rush that culminated with the Swede’s ultra-sweet dish to the trailing K’Andre Miller for what ultimately stood as the winning goal.
When Zibanejad is on killing with Kreider on the club’s top PK unit, the Rangers are nearly as great a threat to score as the opposing power play. This is a stat I unearthed following Game 2 and it is striking.
During the regular season, the Zibanejad-Kreider PK unit was on for 118:31 in which the Rangers scored six shorthanded goals while allowing eight power-play goals against. Astonishing.
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