palm spring. Mika Zibanejad started 2023 on a tearful note.
He scored again, and also had an assist, as the New York Rangers got their heaviest scalp of the season last night by snapping Carolina on an 11-game winning streak.
– It was a really big victory, says the Swedish Star Center after a 5-3 victory in Manhattan.
Already in the last game before the end of the year, against the Lightning in Tampa, Mika Zibanejad laid the foundation with a goal for what was beginning to look like the latest in a string of form peaks. On New Year’s Day, he followed it up with two more hits against Florida and against Carolina at home in a vibrant Madison Square Garden last night, and exploded again. First, he whipped a sock ball — well, actually — on a power play late in the second half, then provided the shot to game-tying drive Candair Miller midway through the third.
‘Some wins are more special’
Thus, the Hurricanes’ eleven-game winning streak was history.
– We didn’t play well in the first half of the match and ended up at a disadvantage, but in the third we stopped giving them the puck for free and managed to turn around and get a really big victory, says Mika afterwards.
Coach Gerard Gallant’s analysis is similar.
Some victories are more special than others and this is definitely one of them, he says.
We didn’t play perfectly and had some luck, but we still. It feels very good.