Some of the numbers weren’t pretty for Mika Zibanejad in Saturday’s 1-0 shootout win over Columbus at Madison Square Garden, from the pair of penalties he took to the two breakaways he missed.

Coach Peter Laviolette has changed the team’s defensive alignment, returning to the 1-3-1 that served the team well last season. That said, no structure works without application, and after six weeks spent moping about the loss of locker room leaders Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba, the team seems to have rediscovered their verve.