(Quick personal note: I’ll be away from today until next Sunday, so there may or may not be Bantering Points for the coming week. When I come back, I hope that this team hasn’t kept losing to the point where they make drastic changes, and I hope I can look at the NFL standings and see everything looking the way it should for the first time this season. See y’all next week.)

For the fifth time in six attempts, the Rangers failed to earn a victory this season as they fell to the division leading New Jersey Devils last night. Despite Rick Nash busting out of his slump and finding the back of the net for the first time this season, the team was unable to use it to help them win. Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NJD 3, NYR 2 (Video via NHL.com)
• Game Recap: New York’s failure to consistently solve Keith Kinkaid led them to another defeat (CBS)
• Pat Keogh wonders what has caused the Blueshirts’ early season struggles (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Meghan O’Reilly recaps the Hartford Wolfpack’s 5-2 victory over the Toronto Marlies (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Jack Milewski points out five worrisome signs of the team’s performance (Blue Line Station)
• Garrett Gartino thinks that Alain Vigneault’s player usage is dragging the Rangers down (Blue Line Station)
• Tom Castro questions why Filip Chytil made the opening night roster only to be sent down after two games (Elite Sports NY)
• Postgame Notes: While they may not have had an edge in goals, the Rangers did win more faceoffs and hit more than the Devils did (Official Team Site)
• Media Availability: Ondrej Pavelec (1:21)/

Around the NHL:

• Cam Tucker reports that the Vegas Golden Knights recalled forward Vadim Shipachyov from AHL Chicago (NBC Sports)
• The Boston Bruins are reportedly more inclined to extend defense Zdeno Chara’s contract instead of trading him away (Sportsnet)
• The Golden Knights revealed their team mascot, known as Chance the Raptor (NHL.com)/