The New York Rangers are heading into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final tied at two games apiece with the Florida Panthers after losing Game 4 in overtime, their first overtime loss of these playoffs. One of the biggest concern for the Rangers so far in this series is the lack of offense from their top players. Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider have yet to score a goal and they have not been the game changers they have proven they can be in the past. However, the biggest concern comes from Mika Zibanejad. He has looked awful and it was his mistake that led to the Panthers getting a power play in overtime, which eventually ended up with the puck the back of the Rangers’ net.
Zibanejad is the Rangers’ “number-one center” but so far in this series, he has looked far from it. He is making mistakes, passing when he should be taking a shot, and his overall game has fallen off. If the Rangers have any chance of moving onto the Stanley Cup Final, they need their star players to start stepping up and that starts with Zibanejad finding his game and finding it fast.
Zibanejad Has Zero Points in This Series So Far
After having a mediocre 2023-24 regular season by his standards, Zibanejad started off the playoffs hot. He had 14 points in the first 10 games of these playoffs and he was looking good. However, his offense has been nonexistent in this series so far, with zero points through the first four games. Even Panthers’ goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has more points than him and that is a cause for concern. Zibanejad has not scored a goal since Game 1 of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes. He has gone nine games without a goal and only has one assist in his last five games. His lack of production is hurting the Rangers because they can’t rely on guys like Barclay Goodrow scoring multiple goals per game. They need their star players to start scoring goals.
Zibanejad and Kreider have been playing together for so long and with both of struggling, head coach Peter Laviolette should consider splitting them up. In this series, these two players have had Jack Roslovic, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko as the the other winger on their line and no no has been able to get them going. It’s possible splitting them up and putting them on different lines will give them a spark. Swapping Kreider for Panarin or having Zibanejad play with Alexis Lafreniere could help bring out the offense in these players. The Rangers need to start getting production from Zibanejad and having him start Game 5 with new line mates could be the wake up call he needs in order to get going.
Zibanejad’s Mistake Leads to Game 4 Loss
After going down 2-1 after two periods in Game 4, the Rangers got the tying goal from Lafreniere and survived yet another onslaught from the Panthers and got to overtime with a chance to take a 3-1 series lead heading back to Madison Square Garden. The Rangers didn’t start great and overtime and when they went for the first change, Zibanejad decided to send a weak pass over to Blake Wheeler, who was covered by three different Panthers. They took the puck from him and Aleksander Barkov got a partial breakaway, leading Wheeler to take a hooking penalty on him. This led to a power-play goal from Sam Reinhart that tied tie the series at two. This was all caused by Zibanejad forcing a pass to a player who was covered; the Rangers defense was also making a change, which is why Barkov had a breakaway.
Related: Reinhart’s Overtime Goal Leads Panthers to Game 4 Win
There should be no blame assigned to Wheeler because Zibanejad handcuffed him with such a terrible pass that the only way to recover was by taking the penalty. Zibanejad just needed to get the puck deep into the Panthers’ zone; it would have been a better play as the Rangers were still chasing players. This series has been awful for Zibanejad and he has at least the next two games to try and change the narrative surrounding him.
Zibanejad Disappearing in the Playoffs Yet Again
Poor play in the playoffs is not something new for Zibanejad. In the 2022 playoffs, it took him until Game 6 of the first round to score his first goal and that finally got him going and he went on to have a good finish with 10 goals and 24 points in 20 games. The following season, it was the same story as it took him until Game 6 of the first round to score his first goal. However, this time, it was his only goal as the Rangers lost in Game Seven to the New Jersey Devils and he finished the series with one goal and four points in those seven games. Now, after having a strong start to these playoffs, he has once again disappeared and his offense is nowhere to be found. If the Rangers lose this series and Zibanejad does not provide any offense, his Rangers legacy will be tainted forever.
Zibanejad needs to be a catalyst in these next two games. He needs to start carrying and creating offense because the Rangers need him to start playing like the star he has proven he can be. If he and the rest of the top players can start producing, it will make it tougher for the Panthers to win the series. The Rangers should consider themselves lucky that this series is tied because they have won two games without their top players performing as they can. How, they need Zibanejad and the other stars to start coming through if they want any chance of winning this series.
