NEW YORK _ How hot is Mika Zibanejad? The Rangers' No. 1 center worked his way into the franchise record books Monday night when he became the first Ranger to earn a point on 10 consecutive goals by the team. He had a goal and an assist in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Kings at Madison Square Garden.
Zibanejad's streak was ended when Adam McQuaid scored his first goal as a Ranger, unassisted at 9:15 of the third period. That goal broke a 2-2 tie and looked as though it would be the game-winner, until the Kings' Adrian Kempe tied it with his second goal of the game with 59.6 seconds left in regulation.
After Zibanejad hit the post on the first offensive rush of overtime, Tyler Toffoli went back the other way and beat Henrik Lundqvist to end the game after 25 seconds of the five-minute, sudden-death session.
After losses in two of their first three games coming out of the All-Star break, the Rangers were hoping to get some points against the Kings (21-27-4). But one point was all they got, and their record stands at 22-22-8 with 30 games to go.
The homestand continues with games Wednesday against Boston, Friday against Carolina and Sunday against John Tavares and the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it may be too late to help the Rangers in their quest.
Zibanejad, though, has been getting his points at a dizzying rate. The Rangers' leading scorer, with a career-high 52 points in 52 games, became the ninth player in NHL history to figure in the scoring of 10 consecutive goals by his team.
He had earned the secondary assist on Chris Kreider's goal that opened the scoring at 8:32 of the first period. Then, after the Kings tied it late in the period, Zibanejad popped in the rebound of Mats Zuccarello's shot 32 seconds into the second period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
The two points gave Zibanejad eight points (four goals, four assists) in the last three games and 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in his last seven games. Zibanejad on Monday was named as the NHL's Third Star of the Week for last week.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo was back in the lineup after being scratched the previous two games. He quickly showed the Rangers what they missed during the two games he was out when he set up Kreider's goal at 8:32 of the first period to open the scoring.
The defenseman had come all the way down by the right-wing goalpost and slid a pass across the slot to an unchecked Kreider, at the top of the goal crease, for his 24th goal. Zibanejad got the secondary assist, giving him a hand in each of the Rangers' last nine goals, dating to the last game before the All- Star break, Jan. 19 in Boston.
The Kings challenged the goal, claiming the Rangers were offside entering the offensive zone, but replay showed Kreider's skate was on the blue line when Zibanejad entered the zone, and the goal stood.
The Kings tied it late in the period, though, when Adrian Kempe finished a cross-ice pass from Ilya Kovalchuk at 17:23. Kovalchuk added an assist on Anze Kopitar's goal at 5:04 of the third period that tied the score at 2.
