NEW YORK — Things didn’t look promising for the Rangers Sunday when they discovered before their matinee matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden that they would be without leading scorer Artemi Panarin, who was placed in COVID protocol before the game.
And it didn’t work in the Rangers’ favor either, that the Lightning would be getting back No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and forward Anthony Cirelli from their COVID list and defenseman Erik Cernak from injury.
But Mika Zibanejad stepped up to fill the huge hole created by Panarin’s absence, scoring three goals, while Chris Kreider had three assists, Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves and the Rangers stunned the Lightning, 4-0, sweeping the home-and-home series with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.
Panarin’s usual centerman, Ryan Strome, added a goal as the Rangers began 2022 the same way they closed out 2021, with a victory over Tampa Bay.
Panarin wasn’t the only one missing from the Rangers. Defenseman Patrik Nemeth, who just got off COVID protocol last week, missed the game with what the Rangers said was a "non-COVID issue,’’ and assistant coach Mike Kelly went into protocol. Forward Tim Gettinger and defenseman Zac Jones entered the lineup to replace Panarin and Nemeth, respectively, and forward Morgan Barron was promoted to the active roster from the taxi squad.
Zibanejad got the Rangers started early, scoring a power-play goal at 7:44 of the first period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. He added a second power-play goal with the Rangers skating four on three to make it 2-0 at 12:37 of the period and Strome made it 3-0 when he cashed in a turnover and scored at 14:53.
Meanwhile, Shesterkin was magnificent in the Rangers' goal, making 18 saves in the first period, including six on a Lightning power play over the final 1:57, the last of which was a snazzy glove stop on a slap shot by Mikhail Sergachev. The shutout was Shesterkin's second of the season.
Zibanejad completed his hat trick at 16:53 of the second, when he drove the net and tapped in a feed from Kreider for his 11th goal of the season. After the game was stopped for the on-ice crew to clean up all the hats that had been thrown onto the playing surface, the Lightning challenged the goal, alleging Zibanejad had kept the play going when he hit the puck with a high stick. So Zibanejad had to wait a few minutes for it to be official that he’d just completed his eighth career hat trick, and seventh with the Rangers.
The Rangers are back in action Monday night at the Garden, when they host the Edmonton Oilers.
