ARTEMI PANARIN

(AP Photo/Rich Schultz) (Rich Schultz)NEW YORK — (AP) — Mika Zibanejad had his eighth career hat trick, Igor Shesterkin stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 Sunday. The Rangers beat the Lightning for the second time in three days after a 4-2 shootout victory at Tampa, Florida, on Friday night. Zibanejad, who had the only goal of the shootout Friday, completed his hat trick late in the second period to put the Rangers up 4-0. Nearly five minutes later, the Rangers were on a 4-on-3 power play when Zibanejad got his second of the night. STATUSSergachev went to the Lightning locker room just past midway through the second period with an apparent lower back/side injury.

Mika Zibanejad had his eighth career hat trick, Igor Shesterkin stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

Artemi Panarin scored the first of New York’s three third-period goals with 8:25 left and the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 to give coach Gerard Gallant the best start in his first 20 games as coach.

The New York Rangers and top center Mika Zibanejad have agreed to an eight-year contract worth $68 million.

No one player or executive had a greater influence on how the New York Rangers will look in 2021-22 than Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals. A game after the Rangers had been eliminated from playoff contention last season, the Caps' enforcer gave the Blueshirts a black eye. In a span of seconds, Wilson punched a prone Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head in a goal-mouth scramble and later rag-dolled star forward Artemi Panarin to the ice, ending his season.

Gerard Gallant expects the New York Rangers to take a big step in his first season as coach.

The New York Rangers have fired coach David Quinn and three assistant coaches.

Capitals Rangers Hockey Washington Capitals' Tom Wilson prepares for warmups for the team's NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in New York. "I’m feeling good," said Wilson, who appeared to have cuts on his right hand from a fight with Brendan Smith on Wednesday night. With five suspensions on his record, including seven games in March for boarding Boston's Brandon Carlo, Wilson knows Parros and NHL player safety well. Teammate Lars Eller said people in hockey see Wilson differently, which is one reason why this became such a seismic story. "After the play, I would have never thought that all this would have blown up," Wilson said.

Tom Wilson is good to go after leaving Washington's last game with an upper-body injury and eager to move on from a chaotic few days.

The New York Rangers have been fined $250,000 by the NHL for criticizing head of player safety George Parros.

The New York Rangers say president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton are out.

Washington Capitals forward Tom WIlson has a long history of disciplinary issues in the NHL. The league fined him $5,000 for his latest incident.

Washington's Tom Wilson has been fined $5,000 by the NHL for roughing New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich.

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice and Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 shots for his league-leading seventh shutout of the season as the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 3-0 to clinch a playoff spot for the third straight season.

Pavel Buchnevich celebrated his birthday with his first career hat trick and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Saturday for their third win over their Hudson River rivals in five days.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his first goal of an NHL hockey game during the third period against New York Rangers defensemen Ryan Lindgren (55) and Adam Fox (23), Friday, March 19, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the final seven minutes to continue his goal streak and rally the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory against the New York Rangers on Friday night for their seventh win in a row. Ovechkin tied it on a rebound with 6:42 left and put the Capitals ahead on a nearly identical play with 3:33 remaining. He has scored in five consecutive games and has seven goals in the past seven. I can’t be missing seven games.

New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad (93) scores against Philadelphia Flyers' Carter Hart (79) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in New York. (Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP)NEW YORK – Mika Zibanejad had three goals and three assists in New York’s seven-goal second period, and the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9-0 Wednesday night. Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate head coach Gord Murphy, and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury were behind the bench. Ad“You didn’t have much time to think about it,” Knoblauch said when asked about pregame preparation as the acting head coach. “Nothing about this game was any good,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said.

New York Rangers' Chris Kreider celebrates his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Saturday, March 13, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 14th goal, Artemi Panarin had an assist in his first game back since leaving the team, and the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 4-0 Saturday to halt a three-game losing streak. Ryan Strome, Pavel Buchnevich and K’Andre Miller each had a goal for New York, which lost 4-0 in Boston on Thursday. The Rangers called the story about Panarin fabricated and designed to intimidate him for his political views against Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also robbed Kreider’s two close chances on a Rangers power play midway into the second.

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2021, file photo, New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin plays during an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia. Panarin has rejoined the Rangers after taking a two-week leave of absence. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)Artemi Panarin rejoined the New York Rangers for practice in Boston on Wednesday after taking a two-week leave of absence. Coach David Quinn said Panarin won't play Thursday night against the Bruins and his timeline for getting back to game action is unclear. “He’s here and just getting ready to play,” Quinn.

FILE - New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin (10) is shown in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver, in this Wednesday, March 11, 2020, file photo. New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is taking a leave of absence after a Russian tabloid printed allegations from a former coach that he attacked an 18-year-old woman in Latvia in 2011. Ex-NHL enforcer Andrei Nazarov is the source for the report after coaching Panarin in the Kontinental Hockey League. Nazarov says he was motivated to speak about it because he disagreed with Panarins repeated criticism of the Russian government. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is taking a leave of absence from the team after a Russian tabloid printed allegations from a former coach that he attacked a woman in Latvia almost a decade ago, which he denies.

New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafrenire (13) scores a goal past Washington Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, in Washington. Also seen are Capitals defenseman John Carlson (74) and Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93). Lafrenière scored his second NHL goal, Panarin had two assists and the Rangers made the best of a new-look lineup, beating the Washington Capitals 4-1 Saturday for their second consecutive victory. Panarin set up Lafrenière on the doorstep late in the second period, and his shot provided the rebound for Chris Kreider's power-play goal in the first. Zibanejad's goal was just his second since last season after scoring 41 in 57 games in 2019-20.

The New York Rangers selected Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Tuesday night. Lafreniere joins a young, developing Rangers team that features one of his favorite players, Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin. 1 pick for the first time since the NHL established the universal draft in 1969. They became the first NHL team to select first following a postseason appearance since the then-Minnesota North Stars in 1983, who acquired the No.

1 pick in the NHL draft while also coming off an appearance in the expanded 24-team playoffs. The Rangers only made the playoffs because the NHL expanded the format to 24, rather than 16 teams. 1 pick is going to be a very good hockey player, there’s no question, maybe even a great player, hopefully. “To be maybe having the chance to play with him, it would be an honor,” Lafreniere said. General managers are bracing for a hectic weekend with numerous teams having to shed payroll this offseason with the NHL salary cap staying at $81.5 million.

Draisaitl has won the Hart Trophy as MVP after leading the NHL in scoring. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)EDMONTON, AB – The Stanley Cup Final is in Edmonton, and Oilers star Leon Draisaitl made history Monday night. Draisaitl became the first German player to win the Hart Trophy as MVP after leading the league in scoring with 110 points in 71 games. Draisaitl is the second Oilers player to win the Hart in the past four years following Connor McDavid, who is widely considered the best hockey player in the world. “But there’s nothing that comes ahead of the Stanley Cup.

The NHL Hart Trophy voters agreed with NHL players in selecting Edmontons Leon Draisaitl, Colorados Nathan MacKinnon and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers as MVP award finalists. The finalists were announced by the NHL on Tuesday, and determined by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The 24-year-old Draisaitl is seeking to become the first German-born player to win the Hart after leading the NHL with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists). The 28-year-old Russian was the NHL rookie of the year with Chicago in 2016, and a first-time Hart finalist. Panarin has an opportunity to become the fifth Rangers player to win the honor, and first since Mark Messier in 1992.

NEW YORK NHL MVP candidate Artemi Panarin said Thursday he has concerns about the health and safety of players if the season resumes and about finances beyond that. The New York Rangers winger posted a statement on Twitter saying he's worried about the long-term prosperity of the NHL. His major concern is escrow payments made by players in recent years. Players have protected the owners income with escrow, including throughout this pandemic crisis, even as owners' equity continues to grow exponentially, Panarin said. The league and NHL Players Association are negotiating an extension of the collective bargaining agreement along with a potential return to play amid the coronavirus pandemic. Panarin, a 28-year-old from Russia, is in his fifth NHL season.