I didn’t watch much of last night’s game, and what I did see of it was a Brendan Smith turnover leading directly to a Cody Ceci goal, so that’s not very good. Something that is very good is A Bronx Tale, which I watched for the first time last night. Glad I did. Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: OTT 3, NYR 2 (Video via NHL.com)
• Game Recap: New York’s late rally came up short as they lost their sixth consecutive game at the Canadian Tire Centre (CBS)
• Greg Joyce relays good news on Mika Zibanejad’s upper-body injury (NY Post)
• Anthony Rieber points out that in spite of losing for the 335th time in his career, Henrik Lundqvist became the 15th goalie in league history to reach 20,000 saves (Newsday)
• Chris Watkins examines Brady Skjei’s upside as he continues his NHL career (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Dave Shapiro wonders what a fair contract would be if the Rangers wanted to retain Michael Grabner (Blue Seat Blogs)
• John Williams argues why New York should look into re-acquiring Derick Brassard (Blue Line Station)
• David Bruce thinks the team’s 4th line has finally gelled together (Blue Line Station)
• Brandon Spreckels questions what’s wrong with Ryan McDonagh (Elite Sports NY)
• Amanda Borges went one-on-one with Cristoval Nieves to discuss his musical background, Pavel Buchnevich as a roommate, and more (4:50 video via Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Sean Leahy saw that former NHL goaltender David Leggio is up to his old tricks, as he pushed his net off its moorings to foil an attempted breakaway (NBC Sports)
• Nashville Predators forward Kyle Turris believes that if not for Ottawa Senators’ owner Eugne Melnyk penny pinching habits, he’d still be a Senator (Sportsnet)
• Rick Westhead discusses former NHL enforcer Matt Johnson’s fall from grace, disappearance, and life since retirement (TSN)
• Matt Larkin reminisces on the top ten trades of 2017 (The Hockey News)/