Expectations were high before the NHL meeting in New York. After thirteen missed matches since being tackled in a meeting against Boston at the end of October, Mika Zibanejad was back on the ice.
- First of all, you are happy for his sake, as a friend and as a teammate. But I'm also a competition person - and I know how much better he makes our team - so it's also good for us to get back one of our best players, says teammate Henrik Lundqvist about Zibanejad's return.
And certainly the Swede delivered. After barely three minutes of play, he put 1-0 to the home team.
- The first period was probably the toughest. Nervous, eager - you have been looking forward to coming back and playing so you feel a little excited. For a few seconds I forgot to breathe, but it felt better in the second and third, says Zibanejad from the dressing room about coming back after a month away from NHL games.
Thousands of matches
Rangers then went on with both 2-0 and 3-0 before the end of the period.
In the second period Carolina reduced to 3-2, but more than two pucks did not get the visitors past Henrik Lundqvist in the goal.
- I think we played smart. But late in the second we started to slack off a bit and they came back in the match. The amazing thing is how we fought in the third, says Henrik Lundqvist from the dressing room.
The Rangers goalkeeper celebrated his thousandth match for the team.
- He certainly cares more (about winning) than he ever did during his career. He is a passionate player and he gives everything on and off the ice. He has an incomparable work ethic and nothing has changed. Nobody loves winning as much as he does, and nobody hates losing as much, Ranger coach David Quinn said of Lundqvist at a press conference ahead of the anniversary match.