Bantering Points: 1/17/17

The Rangers are finally back in action tonight, as they'll welcome the Dallas Stars into Madison Square Garden. The last time the Stars stopped by the world's most famous arena, they were victimized by a multi-point performance from Top Six Forward Jayson Megna™. Without a dangerous threat like Megna lurking in New York's lineup, look for the Stars to attempt to shutdown some of New York's other highly skilled offensive players. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Brett Cyrgalis points out that the Rangers still have faith in Henrik Lundqvist's ability to bounce back (NY Post)
• Colin Stephenson hears that despite Antti Raanta likely having played his final game before the All-Star break, New York will get Mika Zibanejad back in the lineup tonight (Newsday)
• Pat Leonard believes that the Rangers will need to rally around Henrik Lundqvist in their first game against Dallas since Cody Eakin's controversial hit against the star netminder (NY Daily News)
• Game Preview: The Dallas Stars will look at tonight's game as a game to begin to turn their season around before they dig themselves too deep of a hole (CBS)
• Tom Dianora breaks down how Mika Zibanejad's return to the lineup will give New York a much needed boost (The Hockey Writers)
• Tom Urtz Jr. relays word that the Rangers have called up Magnus Hellberg to fill in for Antti Raanta (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Brandon Cohen makes the argument for removing fighting from the game entirely (Blue Line Station)
• Timothy Haggerty discusses how breaks in the schedule down the stretch will be valuable for New York (Blue Line Station)
• Dave Shapiro goes in-depth on Chris Kreider's breakout season (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Prospect Report: Igor Shesterkin, Ryan Graves, and Tim Gettinger all had a productive week's for their respective teams (Official Team Site)
• Post Practice Interviews: Alain Vigneault,(9:10) Henrik Lundqvist,(2:24) Ryan McDonagh,(1:47) and Mika Zibanejad (1:46)
• He appeared in 74 games as a New York Ranger during the 1999-2000 season, and was once traded for Sergei Zubov. Yesterday's player in the picture was.....Kevin Hatcher (Wikipedia)/

Around the NHL:

• Ken Campbell speculates whether Shane Doan decided to be allow himself to be a "rental" player one season too late (The Hockey News)
• Bob McKenzie reports that future #1 Overall Pick Nolan Patrick returned from injury with a bang, recording four points in an 8-5 victory (TSN)
• Three Stars of the Week: Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom, Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand, and Carolina Hurricanes forward Brock McGinn were named the NHL's Three Stars of the Week (Sportsnet)
• The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins played an interesting game last night, as the Penguins defended their home ice with an 8-7 overtime victory over Washington (4:59 Video via NHL.com)/