Mika Zibanejad will serve as a healthy scratch for the New York Rangers’ Monday night game against the Anaheim Ducks due to disciplinary reasons.
Mike Sullivan confirmed that Zibanejad violated a team rule by missing a team meeting on Monday morning, and he therefore won’t play in the Rangers’ upcoming game.
“Mika will not play tonight because he violated a team rule. He missed a team meeting this morning,” Sullivan said.
While Zibanejad practiced with the team on Monday, he was subbed off the first power-play unit, with Will Cuylle taking his spot, which raised concerns about his overall status.
When addressing the situation, Sullivan emphasized that Zibanejad has taken responsibility for his mistake.
“Mika and I had a conversation about it,” Sullivan said. “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. 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.”
Rangers' Comeback Win Over Canadiens Shows The Confidence Brewing Within The Team
A night that seemed like it would end in disaster, turned into a momentous 5-4 overtime victory for the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/">Rangers</a> over the Montreal Canadiens.
The 32-year-old forward will miss Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba’s return to Madison Square Garden.
Zibanejad is expected to be available for Tuesday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
“It's certainly not something that we would like to happen, but having said that we believe strongly in the process that we have in place,” Sullivan said. “I think it's important for everyone to understand what the expectations are, and Mika understands that. As a leader of the team, as I said, none of us are perfect, everybody makes mistakes, and we will move by this, and he'll be available tomorrow, and he'll be the player that he's been for us all year.”