Mika Zibanejad notched a hat trick and finished with five points as the New York Rangers remained perfect (now 6-0) in outdoor games by beating the disjointed Florida Panthers by a 5-1 count at the 2026 Winter Classic in Miami.
Zibanejad is the first NHL player to produce three goals and five points in an outdoor game.
The Panthers got off to a good start, but after they failed to score on some good looks and bungled two power-play chances in the first period.
The Rangers grabbed the lead with 4:11 left in the frame on their first man-advantage opportunity when Artemi Panarin passed ahead to Alexis Lafrenière, who found Mika Zibanejad streaking to the net for his first of the night. The goal came in transition after the Panthers didn’t get the puck in deep while changing its forwards.
Panarin put the Rangers up by two 64 seconds later when his shot from long range with traffic in front of the net deflected in off Carter Verhaeghe’s bumper. This time the assists went to Lafrenière and Zibanejad.
The Big Apple brigade essentially ended it 58 ticks into the second period. Vincent Trocheck lost an edge, but still managed to dish the puck to Lafrenière, who burst by Gustav Forsling at the blue line and then centered to a wide-open Zibanejad, who slammed in his second of the night and shouted out with glee.
Florida’s only goal of the game came 2:20 into the third with Jonny Brodzinski off for hooking Mackie Samokevich. After making a great hold at the line, Aaron Ekblad sent a bouncing puck into the slot where it was first touched by Brad Marchand. Sam Bennett took possession and then got it to Sam Reinhart and he fired by Igor Shesterkin for his 23rd goal.
Big man Matt Rempe drew a hooking call on Uvis Balinskis and the Rangers put the game away at 12:25 when Vincent Trocheck took a pass from Zibanejad and found Panarin open in the high slot. The Bread Man took a second slice off Sergei Bobrovsky with a wrister that found that back of the net with Ekblad possibly screening.
Despite being two down again, the Cats continued to press and for a second it appeared they cut the deficit, but Reinhart “scored” by kicking the puck underneath Shesterkin.
Zibanejad would make history at 18:32 with an unassisted empty net goal, earning the Cocoa Cup.
A great event, but from the hockey side of things, the Panthers were a bit of a mess. It wasn’t an effort issue, they out-shot the Rangers 37-20 and out-hit them 38-20, but they were either very out of sync or the moment was (strangely) too big for them. They had plenty of good looks, that were either fired high or wide, and six chances on the power play, cashing in just the one. Not helping was an off night from Bobrovsky, who looked very uncomfortable, fighting the puck essentially from start to finish. The Cats will be back inside when the host the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
The Five Hole
- Sam Reinhart tied Brad Marchand for the club lead in goals with 23rd of the campaign It was the second time he’s scored in an outdoor game. The marker extended Reinhart’s point streak to seven games.
- With the secondary assist on Reinhart’s goal, Marchand extended his point streak to nine games. Marchand has been held off the score sheet just eight times this season.
- Thanks to his primary helper, Sam Bennett became the fourth Panther to hit 30 points in 2025-26. After a frigid start, Bennett has racked up 25 points in the last 22 games.
- Aaron Ekblad and A.J. Greer each had a game-high five hits. Ekblad also matched Marchand and Artemi Panarin with a game-high five shots and had a team-high four blocks.
- After surrendering four goals on 19 shots, Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage dropped to .885 and his GAA rose to 2.64. It was his 10th loss of the year.
Stat Card
