Bantering Points: 12/10/16

The New York Rangers faced a difficult test at the United Center last night, but they passed it with flying colors by knocking off the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 1-0. A shutout from Antti Raanta and an overtime goal was all New York needed to earn two points. With their swing through the Central Division behind them, the Rangers will head home and get ready to host the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NYR 1, CHI 0 (4:24 Video via NHL.com)
• Brett Cyrgalis points out how Alain Vigneault's questionable decision to bench Henrik Lundqvist paid off in the form of a shutout from Antti Raanta (NY Post)
• Cyrgalis also passed along word from Vigneault that he believes that Raanta's game is "a little better at this time" than Lundqvist's (NY Post)
• Steve Zipay recaps last night's hard fought victory against the Blackhawks (Newsday)
• Drew McCaffrey believes that Chris Kreider's attributes of speed and height make him one of the most unique players in the league (Blue Line Station)
• Garret Gatrino released his report cards for the New York's recently acquired forwards (Blue Line Station)
• Justin Rutherford offers his thoughts on the strange situation the Rangers currently find themselves in (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Former fan favorite Jed Ortmeyer "penned" a piece in The Player's Tribune about how his career nearly ended soon after beginning (The Player's Tribune)
• Amanda Borges chatted with former Ranger Steve Larmer ahead of last night's game in the windy city (2:04 Video via Official Team Site)
• Postgame Notes: After going the entire season without winning a game with less than three goals, New York has done that in back-to-back nights against Winnipeg and Chicago (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Alain Vigneault, (2:22) Nick Holden, (1:00) Ryan McDonagh, (1:45) and Antti Raanta (2:54) (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Mike Halford reports that disgruntled former Maple Leafs forward Peter Holland was shipped of to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional draft pick (NBC Sports)
• Jared Clinton ponders how long it will take for the New York Islanders to regret the 5 Year, $17.5 Million contract extension they signed Cal Clutterbuck to yesterday (The Hockey News)
• Josh Cooper reveals that Wayne Gretzky is in the minority among his peers by wanting to allow NHL players to participate in the 2018 Olympics (Puck Daddy)
• Gary Lawless thinks that after rejecting the latest offer to guarantee Olympic participation, the ball is in the players' court as they try to work with the league to find an acceptable compromise (TSN)/

Do you know who the Ranger in the picture is?