Rangers fall flat against Senators after honoring Mike Zibanejad’s milestone

The Rangers hit the mark with their on-ice ceremony honoring Mika Zibanejad ahead of his 1,000th NHL game Monday night. 

Once the puck was dropped on the Madison Square Garden ice, however, the Blueshirts struggled to hit the mark on anything. 

A 2-1 loss to the team that traded Zibanejad to New York on July 18, 2016, the Senators, was the result. 

The Rangers’ measly nine shots on goal matched a franchise low that dates back over 70 years. 

The Senators, already without two of their top four defensemen (Jake Sanderson and Nick Jensen), lost two blueliners to injury during the game and still had little difficulty containing the Rangers’ lowly offense. 

“It’s not that we didn’t have a good night, we just got outcompeted,” said captain J.T. Miller, who was held to zero shots on goal in the Rangers’ 25th loss in 34 games at home. “That’s the part that’s hard to live with that stuff. Like I mentioned, looking inward at yourself, you’re just not doing enough. We don’t do enough. Today you should have a fire lit under your ass to go play for your teammate. A guy that feels like a cornerstone of the organization.