Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad hardly recognizable as brutal struggles become hard to ignore

For all the layers to this peculiar Rangers season, which has them looking from the outside in on the playoff picture with 32 games to go, the cascading effect of Mika Zibanejad’s dropoff has been at the forefront. 

The worst of it may be behind the Swedish center, now that he and the Blueshirts as a whole have stabilized a bit. 

There simply has been no semblance, however, of the Zibanejad who served as the Rangers No. 1 center entering the season. 

“Creating chances, being on the attack and I think being good defensively — all the things that everyone expected from me,” Zibanejad told The Post of what it looks like to him when he’s at his best. “That doesn’t happen, and then you guys talk about it and you ask me about this and that. All the things that you guys are expecting, I think that’s kind of been things that I feel have been showing more now. 

“But also for my own sake, I think it’s just what I’m expecting out of myself. Not just expecting, but what I know I can do. It’s been better.” 

Zibanejad has been an offensively streaky player for most of his 14-year NHL career, but this has been ongoing through a 50-game body of work.