Mika Zibanejad not happy with Rangers minutes being cut

WASHINGTON — The time allotted to Mika Zibanejad and the No. 93 line has been drip-drip-drip, and the Swede doesn’t need to look at the final score sheet to realize that his shifts are coming a little further and less frequently.

“You can feel it on the bench,” Zibanejad told The Post after his morning skate ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Caps. “A few years ago I was averaging 20-odd minutes and I liked it because you can find a better rhythm.

“By letting those extra two or three minutes, whatever they are, you can try to create and feel like it’s going to happen. But it is what it is.”

Zibanejad’s average time on ice dropped from a career-high 21:38 in 2019-20 to a current 18:15 for next Saturday’s game against Anaheim, in which the center’s 15:07 was his fifth-lowest total in the last seven seasons. .

It’s theoretically possible that reducing the 31-year-old’s minutes over the 82-game marathon could provide residual benefits, keeping him fresh for the playoffs, where Zibanejad will inevitably face more physical opponents.

However, No. 93 did not necessarily reflect this theory.

“Honestly, I don’t think anyone wants to play less,” Zibanejad said.

Head coach Peter Laviolette said he is committed to fulfilling the promise he made during training camp and spreading the wealth of ice time beyond the top six to bring in more players.

That doesn’t fully explain why the Chris Kreider-Zibanejad-Reilly Smith line has logged less time at five-on-five than the Will Quill-Philip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko line six times through the first eight games, but the raw numbers do fill in the gaps.

In total, Chytil’s line scored eight goals without conceding a single one, scoring 6.03 goals per 60:00 for an expected goals ratio of 65.99%. Zibanejad’s unit scored three goals and allowed three, allowing 2.52 goals per 60:00 with an xGF of 44.08.

“Phil’s line has been really good in terms of generating positive numbers, getting into the offensive zone, creating chances, but it’s more of an effort to expand the bench a little bit,” said Laviolette, whose team went 6-1-1. into the match.

“I think I said at the beginning of the year that my job was to find more minutes for them, but the total number of minutes doesn’t suddenly change so that everyone has as many minutes as they want, so some things will have to change.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing,” the coach said. “Micah’s on the power play, he’s on the penalty kill, he’s on the five-on-five.

“Depending on how much less, it could work against you. But getting minutes on the bench, which is what we’re trying to do right now, I think it’s important to find a positive influence on every line.

“It’s hard to keep someone at 11 p.m. when you’re trying to push Phil’s time a little bit because he’s playing well.”

It’s also difficult if Zibanejad and his line aren’t playing well. In the first match, Kreider scored a goal on a five-on-five. Smith scored twice: in Game 3 against the Red Wings and in Game 6 in Montreal, once on a mix-and-match basis. Zibanejad also scored in a game in Montreal on October 22.

But the line has not yet announced its identity. They are not yet a puck-carrying trio or a pressure-oriented conglomerate. Three smart forwards are trying to figure it out.

“I think there are some good things, but other things we’re still working on,” Zibanejad said. “We didn’t have any of those all-inclusive games.

“Last night (against Anaheim) was a good example of that. We had good chances in the first match, but we didn’t score. You try to stay positive because it can give you energy, but at some point we’re going to need some pucks to score.

“I didn’t (necessarily) warn about this, but I said that we might not get results right away while we are still learning from each other. There are many good intentions.

“We try to do the right thing. We also get more draws in the d-zone and it’s a little harder to score trying to go 180 feet, so there are different aspects to that. I think it was a decent start and things are getting better. We all want this to work.”

Laviolette and staff distribute the wealth and reward the “hot hand.” By the way, it did not belong to Zibanejad, it was a little alien, a little later.

“I think they want to have more of an offensive impact inside the game,” the coach said. “They often play tougher matches, start in the d-zone more often, but I think they are still working on becoming more dominant.

“I love the way we ride the boards. The line has been good, they are all learning the game and want to get better. They’re looking for more, they’re looking for more.”

Perhaps a little more time on the ice.