TARRYTOWN – Mika Zibanejad is far from the loudest voice in the New York Rangers locker room. In fact, he is one of the gentlest people on the team, preferring to observe, process and understand everything.
This adds to the effect when the assistant captain speaks. His lyrics tend to be measured, rather than driven by thoughtless emotion, with thoughtful approaches to just about any subject.
It was no different during our discussion Thursday morning about the lack of offensive production from his line. Zibanejad has openly dissected why he thinks they’ve only generated two five-on-five goals in 12 (and now 13) games and why these droughts are often over-analyzed this time of year.
It made for a fascinating conversation, but his most emphatic response came in defense of Kaapo Kakko and the criticism he saw leveled at the young striker.
“He becomes such an easy target because Chris (Kreider) and I have been playing together for years,” Zibanejad said from his locker at the MSG practice facility. “It’s not fair to him.”
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Kakko spent the first 11 games of the new season riding shotgun with Kreider and Zibanejad, who have been teammates for nearly eight years, with the trio achieving mixed results.
On the one hand, they have been excellent defensively, allowing just one goal in 119:31 on the ice together, according to Natural Stat Trick. Their metrics all look positive from a possession and expected goals perspective, including an xGF of 58.57%, a shot share of 55.68%, and a high-danger scoring chance rate of 64.1 %.
But on the other hand, this iteration of the top line scored only two goals during this period.
In terms of financial results, they simply weren’t performing well enough. That’s usually what fans (and sometimes the media) focus on, but Zibanejad warned that players can form bad habits if they judge themselves strictly on points.
“It always depends on how you want to look at it,” said the number 93. “You can either look at it from a process point of view, what you’re trying to do and whether you’re creating chances, or just (look at) the numbers. Okay, we didn’t score at five-on-five. If you “
“We don’t want to just play 0-0 and so on, but you go through times like this,” he added. “The start of the season is always more sensitive because everyone is watching it and everyone wants to make a good start. I lived my whole career when it went up and down at five against five and we weren’t scoring and you” We don’t create, or you don’t make the most of the opportunities that present themselves. But at the same time, if we don’t score, we have to make sure we don’t just go for offense and then run the other way.
A plan of attack
There’s an argument that the floodgates would have eventually opened for the Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko combination, but a tough performance in last week’s game Lose in shootout 5-4 in Minnesota convinced head coach Peter Laviolette that it was time to “a change of scenery.”
Zibanejad has been around long enough to not be surprised by this, and he can see the benefits of trying different looks when things get a little stale.
“Since I started, we’ve always had — and I say we because (Kreider and I) mostly play together — we’ve always had different right wingers,” he said. “Sometimes you need a break, and then Kaap will probably be back with us later this year. You never know, but I don’t think it’s right to (split) him.”
Two games into the new arrangement with veteran Blake Wheeler on Zibanejad’s right side, the story is similar. No goals yet, but they haven’t allowed any either.
One of the points of discussion was entering the offensive zone with possession, rather than driving it past the defense and pursuing it on a forecheck. This makes it a 50-50 puck battle, rather than a dangerous chance to rush with the puck firmly in the Rangers’ hands.
It’s one of those situations that’s easier said than done, with Zibanejad pointing out that an upside-down approach can help. This means attacking quickly at center ice, rather than carrying the puck to the wings, where it’s easier for the defense to cut you off and force you to move them forward.
“I would love to not drop it at all, but that’s not going to be the case,” he said. “A lot of teams, when they’re playing well, they see the puck go into the offensive zone in the middle and then it’s kicked out. Because when you go through the middle, the D has to come in the middle. respect the guy who has the puck. We talk about it the same way on the power play. We try to start from the middle and then go out, because you have forced the other team to come closer and you force them. Then it opens. Whereas if you’re skating on the wall, it’s so easy to turn away because you have nowhere to go.
“Trust that it will come.”
Anecdotally, Kreider, Zibanejad and Wheeler – as well as Kakko in his new spot on the third line – seem to have gotten the message and are playing with a little more boldness.
They do their best to ignore outside chatter, but that doesn’t lessen their frustration when the puck doesn’t go in. With each passing match, it becomes more and more urgent to accumulate points.
Only two of Kreider’s nine goals have come at 5-on-5, while Kakko has one and Zibanejad is still looking for his first. (The same goes for Wheeler.) The 30-year-old center is stuck on a 5-for-5 assist in 13 games, but he knows their line’s low totals can’t be blamed on a single individual. Kakko was the logical first choice to try to shake things up, but there could come a time when it’s Kreider and Zibanejad who go their separate ways.
That time hasn’t come yet, not yet with the red-hot Rangers sitting at 10-2-1. It’s too early to panic, as Zibanejad can attest. He didn’t score his first 5-on-5 goal until Game 15 last season, then racked up a career-high 91 points (50 at even strength).
This perspective makes him a voice of reason on this subject.
“We had the same discussion last year,” he recalled. “I don’t think I scored my first even-strength goal until Detroit (November 10, 2022). I don’t know what game it was, but I remember that was a big thing too. Then I I scored, and it was done.
“Just trust our instincts and trust that it’s going to happen. As long as we work hard and do the right things, I think you’ll be rewarded at the end of the day.”
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work on lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
