Zibanejad, Rangers hold off struggling Panthers

Mika Zibanejad scored twice, and the New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Sunday.

Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist, Adam Fox had two assists, and Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves for New York (20-12-6), which lost 2-1 in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
"It's nice to get in the win column after the break, obviously," Trocheck said. "A tough road trip, two really good teams, Tampa Bay and Florida, so to get three out of four [points], we're pretty happy with it."

Eric Staal had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for Florida (16-18-4), which has lost two straight and five of six.
"I thought we battled hard tonight," Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. "We kept trying to push back, and then they were able to get that extra one to keep us two behind. So we had a good push, but it wasn't enough."
Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 14:36 of the first period. With the teams skating at 4-on-4, he drove to the slot and lost control of the puck, which slid past Bobrovsky just as a penalty to Trocheck expired for a power-play goal.
"We trust each other," Zibanejad said. "We trust that we can be a good power play and that we are a good power play and that the goals will come. And they did so today, so that was nice."

Zibanejad then made it 2-0 at 10:30 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle.
Nick Cousins cut it to 2-1 at 13:57 when his wrist shot from the right circle hit off Halak's blocker and deflected in off the left post
Kreider made it 3-1 at 15:44 after receiving a pass from Kaapo Kakko in the slot.
Bennett cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 19:02, scoring on the rebound of Carter Verhaeghe's shot. It was his first goal since Dec. 1 (14 games).
Trocheck again restored New York to a two-goal lead with a power-play goal at 1:38 of the third period.
"I thought they did a good job tonight," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "They moved the puck around, and it was nice to score a power-play goal."

Staal cut it to 4-3 at 2:53 with a wrist shot over Halak's right shoulder, but Panarin made it 5-3 at 10:04 from the left circle after his backhand pass ricocheted back to him off Panthers forward Ryan Lomberg.
"I think our team knows what our team needs to do to have success. I mean, it's not a secret," Cousins said. "When we get in on the forecheck, get in on the body and make it physical on their defense
had one shot, one block and was minus-1 in 11:48 of ice time after he was a healthy scratch Friday.