Zibanejad has 5 points, Rangers defeat Panthers in Winter Classic in Miami

MIAMI -- History was made at the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic, but it had nothing to do with it being the first NHL outdoor game in the state of Florida.

Mika Zibanejad scored the first hat trick in a Winter Classic and had five points to set the record for the most in an outdoor game, leading the New York Rangers to a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers in front of a sellout crowd of 36,153 at loanDepot park on Friday.

Zibanejad, who earlier Friday was named to Team Sweden for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, broke the mark of four points set by Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues in the 2022 Winter Classic.

“It’s hard to grasp the whole day like that,” Zibanejad said. “It was a great 12-16 hours.”

He wasn’t alone putting his name in the outdoor-game record books.

Rangers forward Artemi Panarin had two goals and an assist, giving him seven career points (three goals, four assists) in NHL outdoor games and putting him in a four-way tie for the most in League history.

Alexis Lafreniere had three assists, and Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the Rangers (20-18-5), who improved to 6-0-0 outdoors, including 3-0-0 in the Winter Classic.

But the star of the night was Zibanejad, who had the fourth five-point game of his NHL career.

“It’s hard to put in words what he means to this group,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think he’s the type of player that can will our group to win.”

Sam Reinhart scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves for the Panthers (21-16-3), who played their first outdoor game in front of a loud and raucous crowd.

The game-time temperature was 63.1 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the warmest Winter Classic in history and the second-warmest NHL outdoor game, behind the Stadum Series at Coors Field in Denver (65 degrees) on Feb. 27, 2016.

“Obviously, you would like a better result. It’s been a heck of few days but ultimately [we] would have liked a better game,” Reinhart said. “From the get-go, I thought we might have pushed at times, but they went to the areas that made it difficult in front of our net and we made it easy in front of theirs. So, that seemed like the difference tonight.”

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions played most of the game without defenseman Seth Jones, who left at 7:54 of the first period with an upper-body injury after being hit up high with a shot from Lafreniere.

Florida coach Paul Maurice said Jones will be evaluated Saturday but that the injury “doesn’t look terrible right now.”

Zibanejad gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 15:09 of the first period with his eighth power-play goal of the season. Lafreniere skated the puck down the left side and slid it to the top of the crease, where Zibanejad redirected it in.

It was his 116th power-play goal with New York, moving him into a tie with Chris Kreider and Camille Henry for the all-time Rangers lead.

The Rangers went 2-for-3 on the power play Friday and killed five of six penalties.

The line of Zibanejad, Panarin and Lafreniere struck again 1:04 later to make it 2-0. This time, Panarin scored on a long wrist shot that appeared to hit Panthers forward Brad Marchand before going through a screen in front by Zibanejad at 16:13.

The Rangers made it 3-0 at 58 seconds of the second period on Zibanejad’s second goal of the night, the center one-timing a pass in the left circle from Lafreniere past Bobrovsky.

“He was unbelievable,” New York defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov said of Zibanejad. “Five points, you can’t beat that. He played great. What am I supposed to say? Dude is a hero.”

Reinhart scored on the power play at 2:20 of the third period, knocking in a loose puck in the slot to make it 3-1.

The Panthers had a chance to make it a one-goal game when Rangers forward Matthew Robertson was called for delay of game at 8:09, but New York killed the penalty and then regained a three-goal lead when Panarin scored on the power play at 12:25 to make it 4-1.

“I thought it was a really important time of the game,” Sullivan said, “because that could have gone one or two ways. They get another goal and all of the sudden, it’s a hockey game.”

With Bobrovsky pulled for the extra attacker, Zibanejad scored a short-handed empty-net goal for the 5-1 final at 18:32. He became the third player with a hat trick in an outdoor game, along with David Pastrnak (2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe) and Tyler Toffoli (2020 Stadium Series).

“I thought our best players were our very best players tonight,” Sullivan said.

Especially Zibanejad, who had one goal in his first two outdoor games with the Rangers.

“These events are a lot more fun and a lot memorable when you win,” Zibanejad said.

NOTES: This was the 44th NHL outdoor game and 17th Winter Classic. … The six wins for the Rangers in outdoor games are the most by any team. … New York scored five goals in an outdoor game for the third time (2014 Stadium Series, 2024 Stadium Series), the most among all teams. The Detroit Red Wings (2016 Stadium Series, 2009 Winter Classic) and Blues (2024 Winter Classic, 2022 Winter Classic) are the only other teams with multiple five-goal games outdoors. … Panarin is tied with Henrik Zetterberg, Jonathan Toews and James van Riemsdyk for most career points in outdoor games. He also joined Zetterberg as the second player in NHL history with multiple three-point outdoor games. … Reinhart’s goal was his second in an outdoor game, both coming against the Rangers. He scored against them while playing for the Buffalo Sabres in the 2018 Winter Classic at Citi Field in New York.