After the New York Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, Mika Zibanejad spoke to the media for the first time about being scratched out of the lineup.
Zibanejad violated a team rule by missing Monday morning’s team meeting, which resulted in him being scratched out of the lineup on Monday night in a game against the Anaheim Ducks.
We got to hear Zibanejad’s reasoning for missing Monday morning’s team meeting.
Despite emphasizing that a bad accident on the road caused him to miss the meeting, he took accountability for being late.
“It’s my 10th season now,” Zibanejad said. “I know what the challenges are and whatnot, but an unfortunate situation. I got stuck. We got stuck behind an accident. I’m just hoping everyone in that accident was fine. Rules are rules and I was late. There’s not much else to say honestly. That’s the reasoning why I was late.”
When Sullivan made the decision to scratch Zibanejad out of the lineup, he praised Zibanejad’s character, seemingly trying to move on from this situation quickly while also making sure to send a message by holding one of his veteran players accountable.
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“There are logistical challenges that the city presents sometimes, but having said that, I think Mika understands the importance of the rules that we all expect of one another,” Sullivan said. “This is something that I think from his standpoint, obviously he feels terribly. The one thing about Mika is he's an honest person, he's a great human being. He takes responsibility for it.”
The 32-year-old returned to the lineup on Tuesday night and didn’t face any other form of discipline.