$66,500,000 NY Rangers D-man makes his thoughts on Mika Zibanejad's recent uptick in performance extremely clear

NY Rangers defenseman Adam Fox shared his thoughts on Mika Zibanejad's recent performances, which have surged significantly over the last few games.

Despite the disappointment of blowing a 3-0 lead and losing 5-4 in overtime to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, the Rangers' offense has been on a roll, scoring 14 goals in their last three games, although they have only secured one victory during that span.

Mika Zibanejad continued to shine by notching up a point in the loss, maintaining a point-per-game average over his last four outings. After the game, Fox, who signed a $66.5 million deal, praised Zibanejad for his contributions, emphasizing how much the team relies on him.

"Another guy we rely on. I think Mika is a guy who's asked to do a lot for us - PK, power play, go against other teams' top lines, and I think he does a great job of that. (He) had some good looks (tonight), obviously a great shot on the power play to get that one, and yeah, we're just gonna keep relying on him," Fox said (2:22).

Mika Zibanejad has racked up 25 points through eight goals and 17 assists in 40 games this season. Meanwhile, the Blueshirts are seventh in the Metro Division with a record of 18-20-2 after 40 games.

The Rangers will host the New Jersey Devils in the Hudson River rivalry clash at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET.

Mika Zibanejad and Rangers drop points to Dallas Stars

On Tuesday, the NY Rangers hosted the Dallas Stars at MSG. The matchup ended up with the Rangers losing 5-4 in overtime.

The Rangers started strong, dominating the game for the first 12 minutes and quickly building a 3-0 lead with two goals from Alexis Lafreniere and another from Vincent Trocheck.

However, the Dallas Stars began to respond, with Matt Duchene scoring to make it 3-1 at 12:57, followed by Evgenii Dadonov's power-play goal that brought the visitors within one at 3-2.

In the second period, Jason Robertson tied the game 3-3 for the Stars at 13:14, marking the only goal scored in that period. Coming into the final period, Trocheck netted his second of the night on the power-play, with an assist from Mika Zibanejad, to put the home team back in the 4-3 lead.

However, with less than three minutes remaining, Thomas Harley scored to tie the game 4-4, forcing overtime. Jamie Benn then sealed the victory for the Stars with a power-play goal 2:17 into the extra period.