Bantering Points: 1/18/17

The Garden faithful stepped into a time machine last night, and got teleported back to the 1980's to watch some vintage hockey. The Minnesota North Dallas Stars and New York Rangers ended up in an old-fashioned track meet, and the Stars came away with a 7-6 victory after chasing Henrik Lundqvist from the crease with a seven goal barrage through two periods. The Rangers will need to tighten up their defensive issues before their next game, which is tomorrow night in Toronto. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: DAL 7, NYR 6 (4:53 Video via NHL.com)
• Sean Hartnett discussed how Mika Zibanejad's return to the lineup is like a trade deadline acquisition for the Rangers before last night's game (CBS)
• Brett Cyrgalis recaps yesterday's 7-6 loss against the Stars (NY Post)
• Steve Zipay discusses the options New York has with their forward depth as they chug along through the stretch run (Newsday)
• James O'Brien questions if Henrik Lundqvist is just going through a rough patch, or if his shoddy play will become the new norm for him (NBC Sports)
• Tom Urtz Jr. released the Game Score from last night's matchup (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Becky from BSB handed out Alain Vigneault's first half report card (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Dave Shapiro breaks down the differences in critiques of Henrik Lundqvist's recent play (Blue Seat Blogs)
• David Bruce questions whether Henrik Lundqvist is still worth his gargantuan salary (Blue Line Station)
• Drew McCaffrey argues that Ryan McDonagh has established himself as one of the best American defenseman in the NHL (Blue Line Station)
• Brandon Cohen examines who the Rangers currently have their fiercest rivalry with (Blue Line Station)
• Postgame Notes: New York set single game (40) and single period (25) highs in shots on goal despite falling short against Dallas (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Henrik Lundqvist,(5:49) Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi,(1:40) and Alain Vigneault (3:44)/

Around the NHL:

• Dominik from LHH reports that the New York Islanders have relieved Jack Capuano of his head coaching duties, and named Doug Weight as interim head coach (Lighthouse Hockey)
• The Islanders have already begun their search for the team's next head coach, as they have secured permission to interview Gerard Gallant from the Florida Panthers (TSN)
• Josh Cooper passes along word that Buffalo Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner was not happy after getting pulled against the Toronto Maple Leafs (Puck Daddy)
• Matt Larkin wonders whether Monday night's 8-7 game between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins was the greatest display of offense in NHL history (The Hockey News)
• Here's a neat breakdown of why one-timers are the most dangerous shot teams can consistently generate (Hockey Graphs)/

Do you know who the Ranger in the picture is?