The game is played on a 200-foot by 85-foot sheet of ice, but for Mika Zibanejad, the true battle happens almost entirely within his mind.
“It’s not the first time this has happened, it won’t be the last. Obviously, you don’t want to experience those nights,” Zibanejad, 31, told a throng of reporters following Wednesday’s practice after a particularly challenging game the previous night against Winnipeg. ”But the important thing is how you respond, learn from it, and move on. I think in that regard, I know I can play better.”
“I can dwell in negativity and make it all the worse, or I can try to learn from it and find the positives that have been present in the games. Maybe it’s hard for some people to see sometimes when they focus on just one thing, but my job is to go out there and play a good game tomorrow, regardless of whether I had a great game the day before or a bad game.”
“That doesn’t change. People expect it of me and I expect it from myself to play well every night,” said Zibanejad, whose team faces San Jose at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. ”It’s not going to happen consistently, even as much as I want it to. Just play hard and have a short memory.”
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