Mika Zibanejad still on 39 goals as Rangers lose to Sabres in shootout

Mika Zibanejad, sitting on 39 goals as the Rangers took on the Buffalo Sabres Monday at Madison Square Garden, had no intention of doing anything extra to try and get No. 40.

“It means a round number,’’ Zibanejad said at the morning skate when asked the significance of getting to 40 goals.

“I hit the post last year, with the empty net, [shooting] for 30,’’ he said with a laugh. “The situation is what it is, and you try not to focus on it too much, because I think that kind of might take you out of your instincts and how you usually play.’’

The Stockholm native did not get his 40th goal Monday, as the Rangers lost in a shootout, 3-2. The Rangers got two second-period goals from Artemi Panarin to turn a 1-0 deficit after one period into a 2-1 lead going into to the third, but Casey Mittelstadt’s goal at 8:13 of the third period tied the score, and then Mittelstadt scored the winner in the shootout to give the Sabres a victory they desperately needed to stay in the wild card playoff race.

The Rangers (47-21-13, 107 points) did earn a point, and pulled within one of idle New Jersey in the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils (50-22-9, 108) play Buffalo in Newark, N.J. on Tuesday and will clinch second if they get even a single point.

Meanwhile, though Zibanejad didn’t get to 40 goals, he had an assist on Panarin’s first goal, a power play goal at 1:01 of the second period, and that got him to 90 points on the season. It is the first time in his career he’s gotten to 90 points. Panarin’s two goals also got him over the 90-point mark. He has 91.

“Both of them had a real good year for us, obviously,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said of Zibanejad and Panarin. “Anytime you got guys going like that and getting those amount of points, it's good for our team.’’

The Sabres (40-32-7, 87 points) were desperate to win and had the territorial edge in the first period, outshooting the Rangers 14-4 and taking the lead, 1-0, on a goal by J.J. Peterka at 14:24. But the Rangers got a power play with 52.8 seconds left in the first, when Tage Thompson high-sticked Panarin, and Panarin tied the game with his 27th goal of the season early in the second.

That sparked the Rangers, who played much better in the second, and took the lead on Panarin’s one-timer off a pass from Vladimir Tarasenko at 11:12 of the second.

After Mittelstadt tied it and the game went to overtime, the Rangers were called for having too many men on the ice at 1:18 into the extra session. But they were able to kill the penalty. They did suffer a scare, though, when defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who, before the game was presented with the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, was hit in the face as he dropped down to block a shot.

Lindgren skated off the ice and headed to the locker room, but returned in time to watch the shootout and said afterward he was OK.

“I guess I got pretty lucky,’’ Lindgren, who had a small red mark on his cheek, said. “It must have just kind of grazed me. It got my cheek a little bit, but I’m alright.’’

In the shootout, Buffalo went first and Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped the first three shooters, Jack Quinn, Thompson and Alex Tuch, while Buffalo’s rookie goalie Devon Levi, stopped Patrick Kane, Zibanejad and Panarin. Owen Power scored in round four for Buffalo, and Tarasenko scored to extend the tiebreaker to a fifth round. Mittelstadt then scored and Kaapo Kakko missed to give Buffalo the win.

The Rangers have one more game remaining in the season, Thursday at home against Toronto.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.