Two goals in the Rangers' 4-3 loss to Winnepeg on Tuesday raised Mika Zibanejad’s total to 25, which gave him the team lead and left him two short of his career high of 27. They also raised his point total to 56 in 56 games. His previous career high had been 51, in 2015-16, his last season in Ottawa.
But Zibanejad, one of the league’s hottest players – and the center of one of the hottest lines-- , wasmiserable after the game, with another loss pushing the dream of a playoff spot farther away.
It’s hard for him to appreciate having a career year when the team isn’t doing well.