PHILADELPHIA — A day after general manager Chris Drury outlined in a letter to fans that his team will embark on a “retool,” the New York Rangers finally played like they might not need one.
Mika Zibanejad became the Rangers’ career leader in power-play goals, and his three-goal performance tied the team record for most career hat tricks in New York’s 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Swede scored with a man advantage at 5:38 of the second period, giving him 117 power-play goals and moving him past Camille Henry and Chris Kreider, who each had 116 for New York.
Zibanejad’s first-period goal at 7:26 put the Rangers ahead to stay at 2-1, and he completed his scoring at 8:25 of the second, matching Bill Cook with nine career hat tricks with the Rangers.
Artemi Panarin added two goals and an assist, and Brennan Othmann also scored for the Rangers, who snapped a five-game skid. The Rangers, whose last victory had come Jan. 2 against Florida, had lost eight of their past nine games. J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck each had two assists. Spencer Martin made 25 saves and earned his first win of the season.
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan earned his 500th coaching win. Sullivan was a two-time Stanley Cup winner in his 10-year tenure with the Penguins. He parted ways with Pittsburgh after missing the playoffs for a third straight season and was hired by New York in May, after Peter Laviolette was fired.
“I don’t think four or five months ago this is where we thought we’d be,” Miller said. “But that being said, we’ve got a job to do. And we need to start moving forward towards the next chapter.”
Before releasing the letter Friday, sources said, Drury had meetings with the team’s leadership group, with the players and an individual meeting with Panarin. Sources described the conversations as “extremely candid.”
The Rangers entered the weekend with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference and a minus-21 goal differential. They plan to be active in trying to move their players ahead of the March 6 trade deadline.
“If changes are coming, then try to make the most of the time we have as a group, the group that we have right now,” Zibanejad said.
On the other side of Saturday’s game, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and Trevor Zegras each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who lost for the sixth straight time. Samuel Ersson made 22 stops in the loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
