Zibanejad scores twice, Rangers defeat Lightning in season opener

NEW YORK --Mika Zibanejad scored twice, and the New York Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 in the season opener for each team at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves, and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Rangers.
"Obviously a good team; we know them well from last year," Zibanejad said. "But it's a new season, everyone starts at zero, so it was nice to get that start."
Steven Stamkos scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay defeated New York in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final last season in six games before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.
"We competed, we just didn't execute at all," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. " … If you're going to give up a short-handed goal and a power-play goal, you're making it tough on yourself, and it ended up being the difference."

Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead on a power play at 5:11 of the third period, a one-timer from the left face-off circle after a pass from Artemi Panarin.
"Obviously it's nice to see the puck go in and not stand here after Game 15 and not having scored," Zibanejad said. "It's a lot nicer to get that win and get that good start. … The way we won today and the way we played, I thought that was a good thing for us."
Stamkos tied it 1-1 at 9:09 of the second period with a 5-on-3 power-play goal. Nikita Kucherov set up Stamkos, who one-timed a shot from just outside the left circle.
"It's the first game," Stamkos said. "The execution wasn't quite there. A lot of special teams [play] and they won that battle; we gave up a [short-handed goal] and then we give up one on the power play. We talked about taking too many penalties and myself included on that one, and you've just got to bear down. So, you've just got to get better execution-wise."

Zibanejad gave New York a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 3:25 of the second. He took a stretch pass from Jacob Trouba and faked a shot from the right circle before cutting across to roof a backhand over Vasilevskiy.
Trouba, who was named Rangers captain Aug. 9, finished with one assist, six shots on goal, three hits and two blocked shots in 25:49 of ice time.
"Everyone loves him; he's a great player, great teammate," Trouba said of Zibanejad. "He had a great playoffs (led Rangers with 24 points in 20 games) and obviously coming out and starting out like that, he's a special player. … That was exciting. We were all waiting to get back here and start the season with all the talk and everything that happened over the summer."
Goodrow extended the lead to 3-1 at 11:00 of the third, tipping in a shot from Ryan Lindgren in front of the net.
"This is what I expected from our group tonight, it really is," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. " … Our team looked like a different team than we did last year early in the year, so hopefully we can continue that."

The Rangers were 1-for-4 for on the power play with 14 shots on goal.
"Their power play is good, but at the same time, I think we were a little sloppy, especially on our power play; we gave up a short-handed goal, which is never good," Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. " … At the end of the day, we know we have better in here."
NOTES: Shesterkin improved to 4-0-0 against the Lightning in the regular season with a 1.23 goals-against average and .959 save percentage. … Panarin got his 250th point with the Rangers (71 goals, 179 assists) with an assist on Zibanejad's second goal. … Tampa Bay forward Cole Koepke made his NHL debut. He had one shot on goal in 7:51. ... Center Vincent Trocheck had four shots on goal and won 10 of 16 face-offs in 22:07 in his Rangers debut. He signed a seven-year contract July 13. … New York forward Vitali Kravtsov left the game in the first period after he sustained an upper-body injury when he was hit into the boards by Hedman. Gallant said Kravtsov is day to day and that there will be an update on him Wednesday.