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In a battle of teams struggling mightily in the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers outlasted the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Wednesday night, defeating their cross-divisional foes 3-2.
Mika Zibanejad was a catalyst for the Blueshirts, scoring his 300th goal in the triumph; it was just New York's third win in 11 tries dating back to November 21.
“That’s what we talked about before the game, just one, one win. That’s all we care about,” Zibanejad told reporters afterwards, including the New York Post's Mollie Walker. “Obviously, you want to be able to stand here with an unbelievable effort for 60 minutes and have only positive stuff [to say], but I’ll take the win. We’ll take the win, and keep building.”
The Swedish star continued: “I think overall, in general, if you look at the last few games, last four or five, six games I’ve played, I feel like I've been shooting more. Try to be on the attack there more. I know I have the plays that I can make once I start shooting and I think that's something that I want to do more of. I think that opens up a lot more so, personally, I think just keep shooting.”
It's been a brutal stretch for the Rangers, who won the President's Trophy last season but have just been battling to stay in the playoff race in the early going. New York is now 15-12-1 and occupying the top wildcard spot in the East.
“It feels good,” said defenseman Adam Fox, who scored the game winner, per NHL.com's Heather Engel. “I thought we battled a lot of the game. I think we obviously know we’ve got to string together a couple. But [it] starts with one, for sure.”
Fox also chipped in two assists in the winning effort, while Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves for the Rangers.
Rangers still having a tough time despite victory
After trading captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks earlier in the week, the Rangers lost their first game without the veteran, a brutal 2-1 defeat at the hands of the lowly Chicago Blackhawks on home ice.
Wednesday night was a game this team needed to have, and they executed, handing the Sabres their eighth loss in a row as the campaign continues to go off the rails in Western New York.
“That's what we're in the business to do, so when you're not winning, you get frustrated by it a little bit,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said afterwards, per Engel. “But I thought the guys played extremely well right from the drop of the puck.”
Now with some positive momentum on their side, New York will look to continue battling out of the slump against the Los Angeles Kings at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon. LA has won six games in a row.
After that, it'll be a three-game road trip that takes the Rangers through St. Louis, Nashville and Dallas to play the Blues, Predators and Stars, respectively.
