Why Rangers star believes ‘good problem to have’ trumps recent issues

Maybe it’s just Mika Zibanejad’s way. The New York Rangers star center speaks calmly, doesn’t ever appear flustered, even during his darkest hockey moments. Like when he was struggling mightily in the Eastern Conference Final last spring against the Florida Panthers. His emotions never seem to betray him.

So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Zibanejad wasn’t all that lathered up about coach Peter Laviolette’s decision to shake up the Rangers forward combinations ahead of their game against the New York Islanders on Sunday.

When asked several questions about the moves after the Rangers skated past the Islanders 5-2, Zibanejad calmly discussed how nearly everyone in their forward group has played with one another at different times. Without directly saying so, Zibanejad’s message was, no big deal.

“We have a record of 7-2-1 (before the changes) and we think we can play better,” Zibanejad said postgame. “I would say that’s a good problem to have.”

Translation: the Rangers are so good, winning the majority of their games even when not hitting on all cylinders. They know they can be better, even when they have one of the best records in the NHL, knowing that they have yet to play their best hockey consistently. But don’t sweat it. The issues could be much worse.

There might be a bit of arrogance in his statement. Cockiness. But what championship team doesn’t have swag?

Of course from Laviolette’s view, this can’t ever be a case of the Rangers thinking they are so good, that they need not be at the best all the time. There were clear deficiencies offensively and defensively in the first month of the season, masked often by Igor Shesterkin’s brilliance in goal, or explosive scoring outbursts, or timely special teams play.

Each is a key element of why the Rangers are so good. But they shouldn’t have to mask major issues so regularly. Instead, those issues must be fixed.

Fixing things is easier done when you’re still winning games, 7-2-1 — now 8-2-1 — as Zibanejad pointed out. But don’t let that cause complacency either.

It’s a fine line.

Rangers star believes ‘all the lines were jelling’ in win against Islanders

The Rangers looked stagnant and downright hideous at times defensively the past week or so before Laviolette switched things up. The Rangers were better Sunday against the Islanders, but they were still outshot and outchanced 5v5. Shesterkin and special teams (a power-play goal and a shorty) carried the day, after the Rangers and Islanders traded four even-strength goals (2-2).

“I think we played one of our most solid games all season,” Zibanejad said.

That’s certainly open for debate.

The Rangers xGF was 38.67 percent against the Islanders, per Natural Stat Trick. That’s in line with how recent games against the Panthers, Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators looked. So, was it simply more of the same, with the hot goalie and timely special teams staking them to a win?

The eye test says it looked better, and Zibanejed looked better, too — though, to be fair, he played a strong game against Ottawa after a flop in Washington, even though that’s not saying a whole lot.

Zibanejad’s had three assists — one power-play, one short-handed, one 6v5 with an empty net — and played with renewed energy. His line with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere had 69.01 percent xGF, though it was on ice for five high-dangers chances against and only two for.

“It felt good. I thought all the lines were jelling and playing well,” Zibanejad shared. “It seemed to work today … everyone played their own game within the lines.”

It’s all still a work in progress. The Rangers are a good team working through some issues, winning much more often than not. At the end, it comes down to consistency — consistently playing a brand of hockey night-in and night out that is championship caliber.

That’s what the Rangers are chasing in early November. And hope they captured it by time April rolls around.