Mike Sullivan already has reverted to his forward-thinking when it comes to the Rangers’ laggard power play — with another slight alteration, that is.
After briefly trying rookie defenseman Scott Morrow at the point on the first unit late in Wednesday’s unplugged loss in Chicago, Sullivan went back to the five-forward alignment he had deployed since PP ace Adam Fox was lost to an injury late last month.
The twist in practice Friday in Tarrytown was that center Mika Zibanejad replaced winger Artemi Panarin in Fox’s role as the man-advantage quarterback.
“Well, I think he’s a cerebral player. I think he sees the game so well,” Sullivan said of Zibanejad after practice. “He’s similar to Bread [Panarin] in that regard, but I think Mika might add a little bit more of a defensive conscience up there. I think Mika’s game, one of the things that I’ve always admired about Mika is his willingness on both sides of the puck. I think he brings an element there, and I think that’s important on the power play when you’re using five forwards.
Mika Zibanejad is getting a chance to lead the Rangers power play unit. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“That was one of the risks that we were obviously willing to take with the group that we had, based on our roster right now, where it’s at. So we’ve talked about Mika potentially going up there from Day 1, the day that Foxy got injured and we were looking to replace him on the power play. We felt like probably our two best options were Bread and Mika. So we spent a fair amount of time trying to make it work with Bread. We’re going to make this adjustment, see where it goes.”
The Rangers also replaced Will Cuylle on the first unit with fellow winger Alexis Lafrenière, who manned the front of the net Friday with Panarin shifting to the left half-wall.
J.T. Miller was on the right side with center Vincent Trocheck remaining in the high slot.
“We think they’re the best five guys right now to help us have success,” Sullivan added. “We moved them to different positions. I mean, we made some adjustments. We had Laf in the net front. He wasn’t on that [before]. So there’s a number of adjustments that we made based on what we see.”
The 23-year-old Morrow wasn’t even on the second unit in practice, with veteran defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov working from the blue line.
But the revamped five-forward alignment is liking how the Blueshirts will start on their first power-play opportunity in Saturday’s home game against the Canadiens.
“I’ve never done it before until this year. It’s new,” Miller said. “It’s a hard position to play up there. I know Bread and Mika are trying to obviously learn it. Foxy is such a big piece of our power-play unit with the little nuances that he has in his game that help us so much.
Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden on November 28, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. NHLI via Getty Images
“We just gotta find a way to get a little better rhythm. I think the last couple of games we’ve struggled with the pressure a little bit. Teams have been [using] high pressure against us, and we’re just not moving it or executing as sharply.”
The Rangers, who have earned the second-fewest power-play opportunities in the NHL this season behind only Pittsburgh, have gone 0-for-11 in such situations in the five games Fox has missed, including three man-up chances in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to the Blackhawks.
“We’ve gotten a couple of looks … but definitely not up to, I guess, our standard of the power play,” Miller said. “Last game, we had a chance to do something in the third period, to salvage something, but other than a quick little look at the net, I don’t think we really even got set up too much.
“So it’s not good enough, but today was a good practice, so turn the page.”