Rangers beat Panthers 5-1 in first outdoor hockey game in Miami. Zibanejad has hat trick

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MIAMI (AP) — Send the New York Rangers outdoors, and they go unbeatable.

Mika Zibanejad had a chapeau trick, Artemi Panarin scored doubly and the Rangers bushed the Florida Panthers 5-1 connected Friday nighttime successful the Winter Classic — the archetypal outdoor crippled played successful the Sunshine State.

Alexis Lafrenière had 3 assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 shots for the Rangers, who improved to 6-0-0 successful outdoor games.

Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, which was playing outdoors for the archetypal clip and mislaid for the 4th clip successful its past six contests overall. The Panthers gave up goals to Zibanejad and Panarin 64 seconds isolated precocious successful the archetypal period, giving New York a 2-0 lead, and the Rangers kept power the remainder of the way.

Zibanejad’s 3rd extremity was an empty-netter with 1:28 left. Rangers fans tried throwing hats to nary avail; the seats were excessively acold from the crystal for immoderate of them to get adjacent adjacent to the playing surface.

The extortion was open, arsenic were the immense model panels down what typically is near tract astatine loanDepot Park — location of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins. There was immoderate snowfall falling from the edges of the stadium, determination were blasts of occurrence and aft years of planning, determination was hockey connected a shot field.

Did it work? Outdoor crystal typically doesn’t clasp up with temperatures successful the 60s, and determination were immoderate subordinate complaints that the aboveground wasn’t conducive to speedy play. But it worked good capable for the Rangers, who were 4-6-3 successful their past 13 games coming into Friday.

The somesthesia of 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 Celsius) astatine crippled clip was the second-warmest of immoderate of the NHL’s 44 outdoor games that person counted successful the standings. It was 2 degrees cooler than connected Feb. 27, 2016, erstwhile Detroit bushed Colorado astatine Denver’s Coors Field, location of the Colorado Rockies.

The Rangers — with a snowfall effect astir their walkway — were called to the crystal astatine 8:13 p.m. The Panthers — arsenic occurrence changeable skyward on their way — came retired astir a infinitesimal later. And that’s astir erstwhile snowflakes began falling from the apical of the stadium, arsenic the extortion continued opening.

There was different solemnisation earlier faceoff, erstwhile Rangers and Panthers players who volition beryllium portion of the U.S. Olympic hockey team astatine the Milan Cortina Games adjacent period were introduced. Panthers defenseman Seth Jones made the squad earlier Friday, arsenic did injured Panthers guardant Matthew Tkachuk.

Tkachuk placed an American emblem implicit Jones’ shoulders and the assemblage roared.

It was a spectacle, arsenic expected. The Rangers showed up successful all-white outfits, arsenic if it was a formation day. The Panthers came with a “Miami Vice” theme, wearing achromatic suits, pastel shirts and adjacent showing up successful Ferraris alternatively of a bus.

“If you would person asked maine 25 years agone ... this mightiness beryllium the past spot that I thought it would instrumentality place,” Rangers manager Mike Sullivan said. “So, I conscionable deliberation it speaks volumes for exertion and its advancements and the quality to enactment a expanse of crystal down successful this benignant of environment.”