Bantering Points: 12/12/16

Alain Vigneault's questionable decision to start Antti Raanta last night paid dividends, as the Rangers prevailed over the New Jersey Devils with a dominant 5-0 victory. Now finding themselves in first place in he Metropolitan Division, New York will have a day of rest before welcoming Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks into Madison Square Garden tomorrow night. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NYR 5 NJD 0 (4:38 Video via NHL.com)
• Game Recap: Brady Skjei scored his first NHL goal, and Antti Raanta recorded a second consecutive shutout as New York cruised past New Jersey 5-0 (CBS)
• Brett Cyrgalis wrote about how the Rangers were on the verge of history in the Henrik Lundqvist era ahead of last night's game (NY Post)
• Cyrgalis later answered his own question, noting that Raanta continued his hot play with another perfect game (NY Post)
• John Williams acts as a voice of reason, pointing out that despite Raanta's excellent goaltending as of late, Lundqvist is still the king of New York's crease (Blue Line Station)
• Tom Dianora believes that the Rangers have much bigger issues to deal with than a goalie "controversy" (The Hockey Writers)
• Brandon Cohen discussed how New York's embarrassment of riches at the forward position pushed Josh Jooris off of the team's roster (Blue Line Station)
• Postgame Notes: The Rangers' offense regained it's form from the early portion of the season, as they scored five goals for the first time in ten games last night (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Brady Skjei, (0:29) Derek Stepan, (1:06) Antti Raanta (1:25) and Alain Vigneault (2:48) (Official Team Site)
• He played 100 games for New York during the team's fire sale of the mid-2000's, and was one of only two goalies to suit up for the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders. Yesterday's player in the picture was.....Mike Dunham (Wikipedia)/

Around the NHL:

• Eric Engels discusses why Colorado Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla deserves a better situation than the one Colorado is currently providing him (Sportsnet)
• Ottawa Senators' defenseman Mark Borowiecki and Dallas Stars' defenseman Jamie Oleksiak have been suspended two games each for separate incidents of boarding and an illegal hit to the head (TSN)
• Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson sat down with The Hockey News for a quick personal interview (The Hockey News)/

Do you know who the Ranger in the picture is?