6 days ago
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The Rangers’ offense has struggled this season.
On Friday, though, their stars picked one of the best nights to deliver.
Led by Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, the Rangers pulled out a commanding 5-1 victory over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers in the 2026 NHL Winter Classic.
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New York improved to a perfect 6-0-0 all-time in outdoor games.
“Our best players were our very best players tonight,” head coach Mike Sullivan said.
Zibanejad scored three times and picked up assists on New York’s other two goals, giving him the first-ever hat trick and five-point game in Winter Classic history.
That, of course, came just hours after he was named an alternate captain for Team Sweden.
The other goals came off the stick of Panarin, the second of which was the dagger from the high slot on the power play after Florida cut the deficit down to two in the third period.
Panarin also picked up the secondary helper on Zibanejad’s first of the night.
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“It’s hard to express how much [Mika] means to this group,” Sullivan said. “And the contribution that he has to helping us have success when he has a game like tonight -- he’s the type of player that can will our group to win.”
And it wasn’t just the two of them who delivered on the night, as Alexis Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck also enjoyed themselves strong showings under the bright lights at loanDepot Park.
Lafreniere put together easily one of his strongest performances of the season, dishing out a career-high three assists on New York's first three goals of the game.
Trocheck picked up helpers on the final two (excluding the empty-netter), the first of which was a beautiful feed from the seat of his own pants, setting up Lafreniere before he found a driving Zibanejad.
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“That one was a good one, he surprised me with that pass a little,” Lafreniere said.
Those five accounted for all 13 of the team’s points on the night.
And of course between the pipes, Igor Shesterkin made sure to make the most of the rare goal support, stopping 36 of the 37 shots he faced in the second outdoor victory of his career.
Coming off a three-game losing streak, this is an effort the Blueshirts are looking to build off of.
“We’re hoping this can be a start to something good for us,” Zibanejad said.
English (US) ·