Bantering Points: 4/8/17

The Rangers are back in action for another glorified scrimmage this afternoon, as the team is up north to take on the Ottawa Senators. While it would behoove New York to rest some key players regardless of who they were playing, handing Ottawa two points this afternoon could go a long way toward a deeper playoff run for the Blueshirts, as a Senators win locks them into the #2 seed in the Atlantic Division. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Larry Brooks highlights how despite not making the flight to Ottawa, Ryan McDonagh has proven that he will be ready for the playoffs (NY Post)
• Brooks also believes that Mika Zibanejad can wash away the remnants of an underwhelming regular season with a strong playoff performance (NY Post)
• Justin Tasch chatted with Zibanejad about his two previous trips to Montreal in the playoffs as a Senator, back in 2013 and 2015 (NY Daily News)
• Brian Heyman reports that Alain Vigneault has had his players working on their special teams as the regular season winds down (Newsday)
• Pierre LeBrun previews New York's upcoming playoff series against Les Habitants (TSN)
• Shayna Goldman dives into the details of how New York matches up against the Montreal Canadiens (FanRag)
• Dave Shapiro points out three keys to success as the Rangers prepare to square off against Montreal (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Brandon Cohen examines which Ranger is under the most pressure to perform in the playoffs and details why Rick Nash will wilt under the pressure for the fifth consecutive spring (Blue Line Station)
• John Williams gives his take on what to watch for in New York's final two glorified scrimmages before heading into the playoffs (Blue Line Station)
• In a move that got lost in yesterday's shuffle, the Rangers recalled forward Taylor Beck from the Hartford Wolfpack (Official Team Site)
• Post Practice Interviews: Alain Vigneault,(2:39) Rick Nash,(1:21) Henrik Lundqvist,(1:42) Brady Skjei,(1:29) Derek Stepan,(3:18) and Ryan McDonagh (2:03)
• He skated in 84 games as a Ranger both before and after the lockout, and arrived during New York's 2004 fire sale. Yesterday's player in the picture was.....the late Karel Rachunek (Wikipedia)/

Around the NHL:

• Andrew Berkshire breaks down how the fortune's quickly turned for Canada's NHL teams, as they're on pace to send five teams to the playoffs after sending none last spring (Sportsnet)
• Jason Brough hears about the drama happening around the Vancouver Canucks organization, as franchise icon Tiger Williams called out franchise icon and current president of hockey operations Trevor Linden about not being capable of handling the job (NBC Sports)
• University of Denver student and Colorado Avalanche prospect Will Butcher has been named the winner of the 2017 Hobey Baker Award winner, joining a prestigious list of names that includes Jack Connolly, Ryan Duncan, Brian Bonin, and Jimmy Vesey (Puck Daddy)/

Do you know who the Ranger in the picture is?