NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the Rangers' loss to the Blues on Sunday, Mika Zibanejad received his lowest ice time since becoming a Ranger in July 2016.
His TOI of 13:04 turned out to be the lowest the Swedish center had recorded in a game since October 27, 2019 (6:31), when he left the game against the Bruins due to injury. .
In nine seasons as a Blueshirt player, Zibanejad has averaged 19 minutes and 33 seconds of ice time per game, and he has never seen the ice as much as he did last weekend.
“Honestly, I'm just focused on today,” Zibanejad said Tuesday night before playing 17 minutes, 17 seconds in a 2-0 loss to the Rangers at Bridgestone Arena. “That happened and we start a new game today. So that's where I'm putting my energy and focus.”
Zibanejad has only three 5-on-5 goals this season, his last coming on Nov. 19 against Vancouver.
His 21 points in 30 games is tied for fourth on the team with Alexis Lafreniere behind Artemi Panarin (36 points), Adam Fox (25 points) and Will Quill (23 points).
The 31-year-old said his ice time in his last game was out of his control, so he's choosing to focus on what he can control at the moment.
All Zibanejad is talking about is playing hockey and making plays.
Coach Laviolette said it was a choice to deploy Zibanejad as a third-line center from the beginning, based on his past performance and the team's situation.
“It's probably no different from the conversation we were having earlier.” [Kaapo Kakko being a healthy scratch]” Laviolette said of Zibanejad's reduced ice time. “We need to play better. We're not playing good enough. We're not doing what we need to do to be successful. The last game in St. Louis was that I think it was better compared to the previous game, but it still wasn't good enough. Overall, there should be more in our team, both from the players I mentioned and from myself and everyone. From too.
“We either accept the situation we are in or we fight hard to change the situation and get out of this situation. That is the only way we will get there. We have to fight harder for what we’re doing.”
Zibanejad was minus-2 in Tuesday's loss with two shots on goal, one block, one hit and one takeaway.
Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, acquired in the Jacob Trouba trade with Anaheim, returned from injured reserve and made his Rangers debut Tuesday night against the Predators.
Vaakanainen, who skated alongside Chad Ruhwedel, appeared in his sixth game of the season after skating the Ducks' first five games.
Jimmy Vesey skated in his 600th game.
Artemi Panarin missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
Alexis Lafreniere replaces Panarin with the first power play unit of Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, Zibanejad, Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko, Will Quill, Filip Sitil, Zach Jones, Riley Smith made up the second unit.
The Rangers reinstated defenseman Connor McKee to AHL Hartford on Tuesday.
