There’s a palpable anticipation that engulfs the Garden when the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad is open in the offensive zone with his stick cocked for one of his patented one-touch sniper shots on goal.
His teammates know what’s coming. His coach knows what’s coming. And the opposing team knows what’s coming.
“He’s got a heavy, heavy shot and it’s hard to defend,’’ Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said after Zibanejad scored the Rangers’ final goal and assisted on their first in a resounding 6-2 win over the Lightning in Game 1 of the conference finals Wednesday night at the Garden.
Zibanejad, who has eight goals and 21 points in 15 games this postseason, seemed set to unleash a slap shot on Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in the opening moments of the game, but instead he deftly took something off it and made it a pass to Chris Kreider.
Kreider buried the Zibanejad pass for a 1-0 Rangers lead just 71 seconds into the game.
Capping an artistic bookend night for him, Zibanejad took a cross-ice pass from Artemi Panrin on a power play and one-timed it past Vasilevskiy to give the Rangers the 6-2 lead 6:06 into the third period.
“When [Zibanejad is] in that spot on the power play he has a special shot — especially on that one-timer,’’ teammate Frank Vatrano said. “If he puts that on net, there’s a good chance it’s going in. I’m fortunate enough to play with him. You see how much he wants to help this team win every single night … and it’s not just scoring goals. He’s so good defensively. He kills penalties, he plays so many big minutes for us.
“When you get to the big stage like this, he brings it to that next level, and that shows how great of a player he is.’’
The soft-spoken Zibanejad did his best to pass off any compliment of his play to his linemates.
“I needed four of them to have one go in,” he said. “When you play with those guys, in my position you try to be ready for any pass. It worked out today, so it was good. The biggest thing was the win.’’
Filip Chytil, who scored two goals, both in the breakout second period, called Zibanejad “a great leader’’ and said he has tried to follow his lead. Chytil, who had eight goals in 67 regular-season games and has seven in 15 playoff games, has perhaps picked some things up from Zibanejad.
“He’s pushing us to be better players, the whole team,’’ Chytil said. “For me personally, I look at how great he is and learn from him the details of what he’s doing, and I can put it to my game and how I can improve.’’
Coach Gerard Gallant raved about Zibanejad after the game.
“Mika? Oh, he’s been outstanding,’’ Gallant said. “He’s been our leader all year long, and he plays a great two-way game for us and on special teams. He’s just been outstanding for us.’’
Cooper has seen a lot of it — too much Wednesday night.
“I’ve been coaching against Zibanejad since the minors, when he was in Binghamton,’’ Cooper said. “I’ve watched the growth of that kid, and he’s a heck of a hockey player. He’s developed into a hell of a player.’’