Coming off a minus-4 game against the Winnipeg Jets, slumping New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad stressed the importance of not burying himself in negativity. Of learning from the game. Of focusing on what’s next.
Asked how hard that is to do, he responded with candor.
“It’s the hardest thing ever,” he said.
“I will never be able to fully explain what it is when you’re in this situation,” he continued. “You have the mantras. You have the sayings to yourself. ‘Forget about the mistakes.’ ‘Just next action.’ ‘Next game, next shift.’ It’s harder than it sounds.”
Zibanejad isn’t happy with his play. Though he has a serviceable 11 points in 14 games, he’s a minus-6 on the season. He’s scored only two goals, neither of which came on the power play. The Rangers have only 41.88 percent of the expected goals share when he’s on the ice at five-on-five, which is second-lowest on the team among players who have appeared in at least 10 games, according to Natural Stat Trick. Opponents are scoring at a much higher rate with him on the ice than in past seasons.
“If I’m going to be like, ‘Oh, this is so tough,’ then it’s not going to help me,” Zibanejad said. “I have to find a way to trick myself, whatever it is. …. When things are tough, just keep working. You get another chance tomorrow. That’s sometimes times good and bad in hockey. You always get a chance to redeem yourself or keep it going when things are going good.”
Tuesday’s game against the league-best Jets was perhaps the low point of Zibanejad’s season. He committed three turnovers that led to goals, then was on the ice for Winnipeg’s empty-net goal. On the offensive side of play, a post robbed him of what would’ve been his first power-play goal of the season and he later whiffed on a slap shot that could’ve beaten an out-of-position Connor Hellebuyck.
Zibanejad also had a medical scare early in the second period, briefly leaving the game and going to the dressing room with a trainer. As Zibanejad leaned down for a defensive-zone faceoff, defenseman K’Andre Miller seemed to signal to the officials something was wrong.
“I just looked up and could see he wasn’t looking like himself,” Miller said. “I stepped up and said something to the ref and thankfully he got medical attention when he did.”
A trainer helped Zibanejad off the ice. He initially stayed on the bench, then went to the dressing room before returning a few minutes later.
“I just felt off,” he said. “I needed a breather. That was it. It was nothing major. I just felt off going into the faceoff.”
Coach Peter Laviolette has tried Zibanejad on a line with star left wing Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière in recent games, but that experiment seems over for now. Zibanejad was back with Chris Kreider and Reilly Smith at practice Wednesday.
Getting the 31-year-old going is vital for the Rangers. With an $8.5 million average-annual-value contract, he’s the highest-paid center on the team and averaged more than a point per game over the six seasons heading into 2024-25. On top of that, he’s been a strong defensive presence. That has slipped this season.
“Talking about my career over the last few years, even though I feel I’m good defensively, I still give up chances,” Zibanejad said. “This (recent stretch) has been maybe a few too many, but at the same time, I feel like when I’m out there, they’ve been scoring on everything. That’s not an excuse. It’s just the way it goes. … I’m just trying to focus on what I can control, and what I can control is my mindset.”
Both of the Rangers’ five-on-five goals against the Jets came with the Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko line on the ice. That grouping has generally been the third line, but Laviolette said Wednesday that the trio, along with the Zac Jones-Braden Schneider defensive pair, has probably warranted more ice time than it’s been getting. If the Chytil line does end up playing more, that could take ice time away from forwards like Zibanejad.
He can’t dwell on that right now. He’s striving to keep his focus on what’s next: a Thursday game against San Jose.
“I’m not happy about (the Winnipeg game) — not happy about the loss,” he said. “But if I think about it too much, I don’t think you’re going to see a very good player tomorrow if I think that way.”
(Photo: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
