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Rangers star shares key to reviving power play: ‘just try to get our swag back’
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- Rangers star shares key to reviving power play: ‘just try to get our swag back’
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Talk about keeping it simple. Mika Zibanejad is not about to overthink things when it comes to getting the New York Rangers power play humming again.
It's not even that the power play is such a problem. But considering how good it was last season and the talented personnel deployed on the man advantage this season, more is expected. The Rangers are tied for 17th in the NHL with a 20.0 percent success rate on the power play. They've scored six power-play goals in 10 games, never more than one in a game, and are just 1-for-10 in their past three games.
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Their inability to get untracked with the man advantage stood out Saturday, when they failed on three straight power-play opportunities during the third period of a scoreless game, one they ultimately lost 1-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime.
So, what can the Rangers do to revive their power play, which, when it's firing on all cylinders, can be a game-changing lethal aspect of their play?
"Score a couple more goals probably," Zibanejad told reporters after the morning skate Monday. "Just try to get our swag back."
MIKA ZIBANEJAD SCORES THE RANGERS' FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ckKavealNy
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 1, 2026
Not much Xs and Os talk there from the 33-year-old center. Just a direct answer focused more feel and confidence than anything else.
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"I think we've had some chances, but obviously we can create a little bit more probably," he explained further. "The whole game is about confidence. So, if we see one or two go in, i think that gives you a little bit more swag out there. … I feel like when you're going [good] out there, whatever decision you make is the right one, and opposite when it doesn't."
The Rangers will keep their top power-play unit intact Monday when they host the Anaheim Ducks at Madison Square Garden. That means Zibanejad, Adam Fox , Pavel Dorofeyev, J.T. Miller, and Alexis Lafreniere get another whack at figuring things out, which isn't a big surprise. They practiced Monday with Dorofeyev in the bumper spot, Lafrneiere on the right flank, and Miller in front of the goalie, a slightly different look first unveiled Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.
Dorofeyev scored off a deflection in that game, a 7-1 loss in Newark, for his first power-play goal with the Rangers. Last season, he was second in the League with 20 power-play goals.
Pavel Dorofeyev – New York Rangers (2)
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/rdJQBnW0wB— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 17, 2026
Zibanejad scored once on the power-play in the first 10 games this season, New York's first goal of any kind in 2026-27 in the home opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 1. Last season he led New York with 16 PPG.
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There's too much talent on the Rangers power play for it not to wake up from this early-season slumber, of sorts. Hence the no-reason-to-panic from Zibanejad.
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