Bantering Points: 4/17/17

Last night as more of the same for the New York Rangers, as the team came out flat in front of a lifeless Madison Square crowd, and dropped their sixth consecutive home playoff game by a 3-1 margin. With Montreal reclaiming home-ice advantage, tomorrow's Game Four turns into a mus win contest for a team that hasn't scored an 5-on-5 playoff goal since Game 1 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: MTL 3, NYR 1 (5:00 Video via NHL.com)
• Game Recap: Alexander Radulov has taken over the series, as his two point effort powered Montreal past New York (CBS)
• Brett Cyrgalis argues that Alain Vigneault can't afford to insert Nick Holden back into the lineup (NY Post)
• Neil Best writes a column about the annual tradition in Rangers town every spring: Henrik Lundqvist has done his job and the players in front of him are letting him down (Newsday)
• Justin Tasch notes that if the Rangers keep up their uninspired play on home ice, this series could be over quickly (NY Daily News)
• Scott Charles offers his thoughts on last night's 3-1 defeat from the world's most famous arena (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Pat from BSB attempts to optimize New York's lineup for the rest of the series (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Karly Redpath discusses how J.T. Miller's willingness to engage physically is a boon for the Blueshirts now that the playoffs have arrived (Blue Line Station)
• Timothy Haggerty points out that someone must step up for the Rangers in Game 4 unless the team is satisfied with playing their last meaningful game at home until October (Blue Line Station)
• Postgame Notes: Although they might be trailing the series 2-1, the Rangers are leading the entire league in playoff hits with 160, so at least they've got that going for them (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Alain Vigneault,(3:25) Derek Stepan,(1:13) Rick Nash,(1:10) Henrik Lundqvist,(2:50) and Ryan McDonagh (0:49) (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Jen Neale passes along word that Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau stormed out of his postgame presser after losing 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues to fall behind 3-0 in the series (Puck Daddy)
• Igor Shestyorkin and his SKA St. Petersburg teammates won the Gagarin Cup yesterday, as the team defeated Metallurg Magnitogorsk in five games (TSN)
• Luke Fox describes what the scene will be when playoff hockey returns to Toronto tonight, as the Maple Leafs look to grab a 2-1 lead in their series against the Washington Capitals (Sportsnet)
• While the Minnesota Wild where a Stanley Cup favorite, and were overwhelming favorites against the St. Louis Blues, Jake Allen has had other ideas. The Blues' starting netminder has stopped 111 out of 114 shots en route to giving the Blues a 3-0 stranglehold on the series (NBC Sports)/