Zibanejad's four points spark Rangers past Panthers

NEW YORK -- Mika Zibanejad tied his NHL career high with four points to help the New York Rangers defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Mats Zuccarello scored twice, Kevin Hayes scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 36 saves for the Rangers (3-5-1).
"I think we were shooting pucks," Zibanejad said. "We got shots on goal and pucks to the net and it's not much more difficult than that. ... It took us a little bit of time in the second but after that, we got going and scored a few power play goals as well, so it helped."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Rangers highlights]
Zibanejad had two goals and two assists. His first goal came shorthanded and tied the game at 1-1 with a wraparound at 3:10 of the second period. It was the first shorthanded goal of the season for New York.
"It was big," Zuccarello said. "We had a terrible first period. ... Obviously to get a PK goal is a huge boost for the team."

Vincent Trocheck and Mike Hoffman scored for the Panthers (1-3-3), who have had a lead in every game this season but have one win.
Florida is the only team in the NHL without a regulation or overtime win; it defeated the Washington Capitals 6-5 in a shootout on Oct. 17 for its lone victory.
"It's hard to take positives out of that," defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "For some reason, we have a tough time holding onto leads. Once we get that lead, we aren't playing aggressive enough."
Zibanejad's second of the game came on the power play at 16:08 of the second to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. He has five goals in his past five games.
"He's a complete player," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "I knew he was a good player before I got this job; I didn't know he was this good. This is a guy who does a little bit of everything. He's got skill, he's tough he can skate. ... We are lucky to have him."

Trocheck gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 18:15 of the first period with a power-play goal.
Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 11:36 of the second period. His shot from the left face-off circle deflected off Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson's leg. Zibanejad got an assist.
Zuccarello scored his second at 1:27 of the third period for a 4-1 lead. He was moved to the top line with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider for the game after having played with Kevin Hayes and Filip Chytil.
"I like to play with everyone, but he's the kind of player that makes everyone else around him very good and that showed today," Zibanejad said of Zuccarello. "It worked out today and hopefully we can keep it going."
Georgiev got his first win of the season after allowing seven goals on 39 shots in an 8-5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 7.
"He made some big saves in the second period when we tied it there and they had a couple of chances to get ahead there and I thought he held the fort and allowed us to kind of get some momentum," Quinn said.
Hoffman scored at 10:37 of the third to make it 4-2.
The Rangers were 2-for-6 on the power play; the Panthers were 1-for-4.

"We're playing and letting them score on their power plays and we can't score on our power plays, of course we scored one goal, but we need to play better in those situations and of course 5-on-5 too," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "It's just unacceptable."
Hayes made it 5-2 with an empty-net goal at 19:08.
Panthers goalie Michael Hutchinson allowed four goals on 19 shots before he was pulled in the third period. James Reimer made two saves in relief.

They said it

"You're not going to have 82 great nights but you have to find ways to win when you aren't on your 'A game.' " -- Rangers coach David Quinn
"It's not like the guys don't care. It's not like they're not trying hard, and it's not like they're not battling together. ... When we give something up, it's going into the back of our net right now and we have to learn how to deal with that." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner

Need to know

The Panthers had won their past three games at Madison Square Garden and had earned a point in their past four games against the Rangers. ... It was the second four-point game of Zibanejad's NHL career (Dec. 7, 2014, vs. Vancouver Canucks). He is the first Rangers player with a power-play goal and shorthanded goal in the same period since Brandon Dubinsky against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 12, 2009. … The Rangers won in regulation for the first time this season. ... New York is 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) on the power play in its past four games.

What's next

Panthers: At the New York Islanders on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Rangers: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, MSG, NHL.TV)