Timely Goals and strong defense get the win at the ballpark
Miami, FL- The New York Rangers flew to South Beach to take on the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions in the Florida Panthers, at the 2026 NHL Winter Classic at the home of the Miami Marlins in Loan Depot Park. It was a complete performance for the Blueshirts wearing their special Winter Classic jersey that pays homage to their Centennial Season.
From the start to the end, the Rangers dominated the Panthers up and down the ice with timely goals and hard-fought defense as they earned their third Winter Classic win and their sixth outdoor game victory. They defeated the Panthers by a final score of five to one.
Banner night for Zibanejad
What a huge night it was for Mika Zibanejad as he was on his game and dominated the entire night. Scored the first-ever Winter Classic Hat Trick, scored the opening goal on the power play that now ties the hockey club’s record with most Power Play Goals at 116 with Camille Henry and Chris Kreider, then got the last goal of the game with an empty net goal, while short-handed killing a penalty. He also earned two assists on the other two goals.
His first goal of the night came when Artemi Panarin entered the offensive zone and dumped the puck to Alexis Lafreniere along the near side. As Lafreniere skated toward the icing line, he quickly turned toward the net, with a pass to the slot as Zibanejad skated in and redirected the puck in the net at 15:09 of the first period.
At the start of the second period, the Rangers had a power play carried over from the end of the first. Vincent Trocheck lost an edge at center ice and slid down. Somehow, he was able to be aware of Lafreniere at the near side and gave him the puck. Skated down the boards, saw Zibanejad trailing along the far side, and passed him the puck for the one-timer at 58 seconds of the second period.
On the final goal of the night, the Rangers were killing off the final penalty against them, when Zibanejad picked up the loose puck on the far side of the zone, skated out toward the blueline, but lifted the puck all the way down into the empty net as the Panthers tried to get an extra attacker going. The puck went into the net, and that ended the game at 18:32, resulting in a short-handed goal.
“He’s one of our core players. We rely on him in so many ways. circumstances out there on both sides of the puck, both offensively and defensively. You know, he’s, I think, just a really good player that can play on both sides of the puck. And I think he’s one of our more cerebral players with how he processes the game, how he thinks the game.
But I can’t, it’s hard to express in words what he means to this group. The contribution that he has made to helping us have success when he has a game like he has tonight. You know, I think he’s the type of player that can bring our group to win, and I thought there were some others tonight that played extremely well also, but I think, you know, I think Mika… Obviously, the impact that he had on the game was significant on both sides,” said head coach Mike Sullivan
Panarin had a spectacular game
Artemi Panarin was sparkling during this game as well. He was making some strong plays in the offensive zone and converted chances, while setting up one himself. He was involved with the first goal of the game, then he worked his magic with the puck toward the top of the offensive zone by earning two goals and an assist, with one of his goals on the power play.
Lafreniere was at the near side of the net and put the puck into the near corner. Going after the puck was Zibanejad, and he passed it back up the near boards to Panarin. As he skated back to the top of the zone, he got a bit of help from Vladislav Gavrikov. He bodied off the defender to give Panarin plenty of room to skate with the puck, then from the far point ripped a shot that took a double deflection off of two defenders and in at 16:13 of the first period
Then, on the power play, the Rangers were cycling down low along the near corner. Zibanejad found Trocheck towards the boards, turned around, and made a long crossice pass to Panarin at the far point. He skated inside the slot and snapped one through a screen to beat Bobrovsky for his second of the game at 12:25 of the third period.
Others had a great night as well
Alexis Lafreniere had a fantastic game in the first two periods by setting up the first two goals from Mika Zibanejad, and then was part of Panarin’s first goal of the game. Vincent Trocheck, with two assists, somehow made that pass to Lafreniere while losing an edge and sliding off the seat from his pants to start that play.
But the man in the net was spectacular as Igor Shesterkin had a fantastic night keeping the puck out, except for the Sam Reinhart power play goal in the third period, and made 36 saves out of 37 shots on goal. He also made an amazing glove save in the third period, stopping the Panthers from getting a second goal to cut the lead to one.
This was a complete game from the Rangers as they move on and head back to Madison Square Garden for the next four out of six games at home, with two quick road games on the weekend to Boston and Philadelphia.
Perfect outdoors
The Rangers are a perfect six for six in outdoor games, with now three Winter Classic wins and three Stadium Series wins. Defeating the Flyers in 2012, the Devils in 2014, the Sabres in 2018, the Islanders twice in 2014 and 2024, and now the Florida Panthers for this edition of the Winter Classic. Every time the Rangers go outdoors at either a baseball stadium or a football stadium, that magic comes to play, and they get the result they need.
“Obviously, there’s so much parity in the league, and we’re in the middle of an Eastern Conference where there’s only a handful of points that separate most of the teams. And so every point is so vitally important as far as trying to stay in the playoff race. And I think that’s just the reality of the league with the parity in the league right now.
You know, we’ve gone through a tough stretch here the last couple of games and haven’t gotten the result. You know, obviously, I think the energy around an event like this and a lot of the activity around an event like this.
Sometimes, if you’re not careful, the unintended consequences you lose sight of the fact that these are two real important points in the standings and that was something that we tried to have a discussion with our players about and just making sure that when the puck dropped, that everybody understands what’s on the line here and the impact that it could potentially have.
And how important it was for us to stop the bleeding, so to speak. And I thought the guys did a great job. I mean, we competed hard. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch. Give Florida credit. They play hard as well. They’re not easy to play against. And I thought our guys competed hard,” said Sullivan
WHEN THE ROOF IS OPEN: The New York Rangers remained undefeated in outdoor games (6-0-0) and tied Pittsburgh (2-3-1 in 6 GP) and Philadelphia (1-4-1 in 6 GP) for the second-most outdoor games played, behind Chicago (1-6-0 in 7 GP). Their six outdoor game wins are the most in the NHL.
MIKA ZIBANEJAD: Recorded the fourth five-point game (3G-2A) of his career and established a record for the most points in an outdoor game. His hat trick was also the first in a Winter Classic. With a power play goal, his 116th with the Rangers, he tied the franchise mark for the most power play goals in franchise history.
ARTEMI PANARIN: Notched three points (2G-1A) in the win and increased his outdoor game totals to seven (3G-4A) in his career, tied for the most in NHL history. He joined Henrik Zetterberg as the second player in NHL history with multiple three-point games in an outdoor contest and joined Brad Richards as the second player with multiple game-winning goals in outdoor games.
IGOR SHESTERKIN: Became one of nine goaltenders in NHL history with multiple outdoor wins. He has helped earn the Rangers points in six of his last eight games (6-1-1) and has allowed one or fewer goals in eight games this season, tied for the fourth most games among all NHL goaltenders.
ALEXIS LAFRENIERE: Tallied his first-career three assist game and tied the record for the most assists in an outdoor game.
New York Rangers News:
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- Rangers fall in Overtime to the Hurricanes
- A Bad Misplay of the Puck, Puts the Rangers behind all game long at the Islanders
“Game Day. Done Right.”
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