WASHINGTON — There has been a steady decline in ice time given to Mika Zibanejad and No. 93’s lines, and the Swede doesn’t need to look at the final scoresheet to recognize that his shifts are getting closer and closer together. .

“You can feel him on the bench,” Zibanejad told The Post after morning skate before Tuesday’s game against the Caps. “A few years ago, I was playing on average over 20 minutes, and I felt really good about that because you can find a better rhythm.

“By missing those extra two or three minutes, whatever it is, you can try to create and feel like it’s going to come. But that’s how it is.

Zibanejad’s average ice time fell from a career-high 21:38 in 2019-20 to his current 18:15 after Saturday night’s game against Anaheim, in which the center’s 15:07 was his fifth lowest time in the last seven seasons. .

It’s theoretically possible that reducing the 31-year-old’s minutes during this 82-game marathon could produce residual benefits by keeping him fresher for the playoffs, where Zibanejad will inevitably face more physical opponents.

Issue 93, however, did not necessarily adopt this theory.

“Honestly, I don’t think anyone wants to play less,” Zibanejad said.

Head coach Peter Laviolette said he’s working to keep a commitment he made during camp to spread the wealth of ice time beyond the top six to get more players involved.

This doesn’t completely explain why the Chris Kreider-Zibanejad-Reilly Smith unit got less time at five-on-five than the Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko line six times in the first eight games, but the raw numbers fill in the blanks.

For the Chytil line combined for eight goals without allowing any, scoring at a rate of 6.03 per 60:00 with an expected goals ratio of 65.99%. The Zibanejad unit had three goals scored and three blocked, scoring 2.52 goals per 60:00 with an xGF of 44.08.

“Fil’s line has been really good as far as generating positive numbers, getting into the offensive zone, generating chances, but it’s more about trying to spread the bench a little bit, said Laviolette, whose team improved to 6-1-1. in the match.

“I think I said at the beginning of the year that my job was to find them more minutes, but the overall minutes don’t change all at once to keep everyone’s minutes where they want them to be, so some things have to be reduced.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing,” the coach said. “Mika is on the power play, he’s shorthanded, he’s five-on-five.

“Depending on the amount less, it could work against you. But giving minutes to your entire bench, which is what we’re trying to do right now, I think it’s important to find positive impact from each line.

“It’s hard to keep someone at 11 p.m. if you’re trying to shift Fil’s time a little bit because he’s playing well.”

It’s also difficult if Zibanejad and his line aren’t playing particularly well. Kreider scored at five-on-five in the first game. Smith scored twice, in Game 3 against the Red Wings and in Game 6 in Montreal, once with a mixed combination. Zibanejad also scored in the match in Montreal on October 22.

But the line has not yet declared an identity. They are not yet a puck possession trio or a run-oriented conglomerate. The three cerebral attackers try to understand.

“I think there are some good things, but we are still working on other things,” Zibanejad said. “We haven’t had one of those games where everything is at stake.

“The other night (against Anaheim) is a good example of that. We had good chances in the first game but we didn’t score. You try to stay positive because that can give you energy, but at some point we need some of those pucks.

“I didn’t (necessarily) warn about it, but I said that we may not get results right away while we are still learning from each other. There are a lot of good intentions.

“We’re trying to do the right thing. We also get more D-zone draws and it’s a little harder to score trying to go 180 feet, so there are different aspects to that. I think it’s a good start and it’s getting better. We all want this to work.

Laviolette and the staff distribute the wealth and reward the hot hand. It didn’t belong to Zibanejad, a little outside, a little late.

“I think they want to find more offensive impact in the game,” the coach said. “They often put up tougher matchups, they get more D-zone starts, but I think they’re always working to try to have more of an impact.

“I like the way we ride on the boards. The line has been good, they are all students of the game and want to be better. They are looking for more, they are looking for more. »

Maybe a little more ice time too.