The 17th National Hockey League Winter Classic took place on Friday night in front of 36, 153 spectators. In a dominant performance by the New York Rangers, they defeated the Florida Panthers 5-1 at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida. It was the most southern Winter Classic in NHL history.
What we saw from the Rangers was an absolutely complete performance offensively and defensively. The win by four goals was tied for the most lopsided Winter Classic win in NHL history. The first team to win a Winter Classic game by four goals were the Montreal Canadiens, who beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on January 1, 2016. The second team to win a Winter Classic game by four goals were the St. Louis Blues, who beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois on December 31, 2024. It is interesting that the Rangers, Canadiens and Blues were all road teams and came out on top.
The top Rangers player on Friday was centre Mika Zibanejad, who had three goals and two assists for five points. In the process, he became the first NHL player to register a hat trick in a Winter Classic. This was Zibanejad’s ninth career NHL hat trick. It was a magical day for Zibanejad, as on Friday, he was selected to Team Sweden for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Molan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Inside look at the three goal game
Zibanejad opened the scoring at 15:09 of the first period on the power-play. Left winger Alexis Lafreniere of St-Eustache, Quebec and Artemi Panarin of Korkino, Russia had the assists. Zibanejad then put the Rangers up 3-0 at the 58 second mark of the second period. Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had the assists. Zibanejad then registered his hat trick with one minute and 28 seconds left into an empty net shorthanded.
Zibanejad in 2025-26
This season, Zibanejad has 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 42 games. He is a -9 with six penalty minutes, 15 power-play points, two shorthanded points, two game-winning goals, 114 shots on goal, 294 faceoff wins, 30 blocked shots, 63 hits, 16 takeaways, and 57 giveaways.
Zibanejad’s first shorthanded point of the season was also a shorthanded goal. It came on October 11 in a 6-1 Rangers win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zibanejad scored his first goal of the season from Sam Carrick of Markham, Ontario and Fox at 7:40 of the first period to open the scoring.
Zibanejad’s first game-winning goal came on October 28 in a 2-0 Rangers win over the Vancouver Canucks. Zibanejad opened the scoring with two minutes and 32 seconds left in the first period. Left winger William Cuylle of Toronto, Ontario, and defenseman Adam Fox of Jericho, New York had the assists. Zibanejad’s second game-winning goal came on November 28 in a 6-2 Rangers win over the Boston Bruins in an Original Six matchup. Zibanejad put the Rangers up 3-0 at 14:22 of the second period on the power-play from Panarin and Fox.
