NEW YORK — Gerard Gallant gets questioned a lot about how often he changes up his team’s forward lines, but the Rangers coach switched the lines again for Monday night’s game at Madison Square Garden against the Florida Panthers, and everything seemed to work out perfectly for the Blueshirts.
Gallant sent four new lines out against the Panthers and three of them produced goals, including two by Mika Zibanejad, as the Rangers bounced back from a loss to Boston Thursday with a 6-2 win, their second against the Panthers this season.
Zibanejad’s first goal, which was the 250th of his career, came on the power play, and broke a 1-for-22 skid with the man advantage. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin kept the Rangers (26-14-7) in the game until they broke out with three goals in the final 25 minutes to take control. Shesterkin came inches away from scoring his first NHL goal when he fired a shot down ice with about five minutes left that just missed the left goal post.
