It also whetted his appetite for more best-on-best hockey. Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jani Hakanpää all missed the 4 Nations to injury, so competition for the Finnish Olympic roster will be more fierce. Vaakanainen acquitted himself well enough to at least be on the bubble, though.

Zibanejad, for the second day running, spent most of his session with reporters looking relaxed and content. Even as his game has picked up recently with the Rangers, it’s a far cry from the demeanor he’s had for most of the year with the Blueshirts.

Depth on defense may now be an issue, but the fourth line had a great day at the office against the Islanders.

No matter how well they play in the next six games before the March 7 Trade Deadline, the New York Rangers needed only one game to prove why they should be sellers and nothing else.

Zibanejad (illness) is expected to play in Saturday's matchup versus Buffalo, according to Andrew Crane of the New York Post.

After winning the Presidents’ Trophy less than a calendar year ago, the New York Rangers find themselves on the outside looking in for a playoff spot. Considering their underwhelming performance this season with an aging forward core,

Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist each as the host Buffalo Sabres crushed the New York Rangers 8-2 on Saturday.

The New York Rangers are on the road to play the New York Islanders on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET. New York (28-25-4) is coming off a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh. The Islanders (25-24-7) are coming off a 4-3 loss to Dallas.

FINAL | Sabres 8 - Rangers 2 Rasmus Dahlin speaks to the media Ryan McLeod speaks to the media Jordan Greenway speaks to the media Lindy Ruff speaks to the media The Sabres host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, which is **Black History Celebration** at KeyBank Center. Tickets are available here.