New York. Mika Zibanejad celebrated a double birthday at his Manhattan home last night.
Scored his 35th goal of the season – and also his 200th for the New York Rangers.
“These are hard numbers to take in right now, but they will probably be big when, sometime after my career, I sit down sipping coffee and thinking about the good old days,” he said with a smile to Sportbladet after the 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh.
As always, he was hot since the beginning of February, the Swedish Rangers first center, and during what New York began to call the “Mecha March”, he was farting even more.
The day before yesterday he scored two goals against Washington and last night against Pittsburgh he hit again.
disk boxed in
Barely three minutes into the first period, Artemi Panarin guarded the puck into the rim, like another king of pool, until Mika came free and moments later slammed behind Tristan Jarry.
“It was a very nice pass, and the two I have in my chain, Panarin and Tarasenko, are very good with the puck, so we talked about using speed in the middle and trusted them to find me with the puck that way,” says the 29-year-old Stockholmer when we meet him in the dressing room after Ten minutes from the final whistle.
With his aim, Mika also reached two milestones at the same time. On the one hand, it was the 35th of the season, with which he moved alongside William Nylander at the helm of the Swedish shooting king – and on the other, it was the 200th hit since he came to the Rangers from Ottawa in the fall of 2016.
– Yes, was she? Yes, of course it’s a funny number, he continues with a smile.
These are hard numbers to swallow right now, but they will probably feel big when, sometime after my career, I sit down sipping coffee and thinking about the good old days.
Beat the competitor
As such, the game, which was fought against arch-rival Pittsburgh, represented another step forward for the hot new version of the Rangers. They played well at times, created a lot of chances and in the end they got the win 4-2.
– Yes, we may have fallen a lot behind in third place, but overall it was good and we got an important and wonderful victory, says Mika, who also contributed to the assist.
Ricard Raquel was one of the best players for the visitors and was involved in both goals. He did the first one himself and played through to the second. But he, of course, remains disappointed that the team missed an opportunity to close the gap with Rangers in third place in the table.
– Yes, it was bitter, he says.
– We finally got some bounce back with us tonight and it was necessary for us to get into the game. Then we’re there and have to get even at the end, but… it just wasn’t enough all the way.
