Bantering Points: 3/22/17

The Rangers continued their struggles at home last night, falling to the New Jersey Devils in overtime. Fortunately for New York, they'll get another chance to buck the trend tonight, as they'll host the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden for this week's edition of Wednesday Night Rivalry. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NJD 3, NYR 2 (4:25 Video via NHL.com)
• Justin Tasch recaps last night's defeat at the Prudential Center (NY Daily News)
• Game Preview: The Rangers will need to have short term memories to let go of last night's game and prepare for a heavyweight bout against the Islanders (CBS)
• Steve Zipay hears from Alain Vigneault about how Brendan Smith has fit into the Blueshirts' system since arriving from the Detroit Red Wings (Newsday)
• Larry Brooks relays word from Antti Raanta that the team's netminder wants to play both halves of the Rangers' back-to-back set (NY Post)
• Jim Cerny writes that there are still decisions the team needs to make ahead of making a deep playoff run in the spring (The Hockey Writers)
• Tom Urtz Jr offers his thoughts on yesterday's 3-2 overtime loss in New Jersey (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Dave Shapiro answers questions about the Rangers' likely playoff lineup and the future of their goaltending (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Ben Whitney examines what the Rangers need to do during their final regular season games to set themselves up for success in the playoffs (Blue Line Station)
• Dan Carrozzi wonders if Marc Staal has had a bounce back season (Blue Line Station)
• Amanda Borges chatted with Antti Raanta about his experience in the Finnish military, his time in New York, and more (5:34 Video via Official Team Site)
• Postgame Notes: For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, the Rangers have three rookies that have exceeded 20 points in a single season (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Alain Vigneault,(1:47) Antti Raanta,(2:17) J.T. Miller,(1:25) and Rick Nash (1:01) (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Jen Neale highlights Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby's night, which included losing teeth and scoring one of the best goals of the season (Puck Daddy)
• Steve Keating reports that Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL is operating under the assumption that the league won't alter their schedule to allow for Olympic participation (Reuters)
• Eric Engels passes along word from Montreal Canadiens forward Max Paccioretty that despite Bettman's recent words, he still believes players will make the journey to South Korea in 2018 (Sportsnet)
• Travis Yost breaks down the search for a team's preferable first round playoff opponent (TSN)
• Matt Larkin takes a look and sees if late season streaks have any bearing on team's playoff performance (The Hockey News)/