Bantering Points: 12/19/16

For the second consecutive night, the New York Rangers earned two points on the back of Henrik Lundqvist. Another excellent performance was only enough to get the team to a shootout, but goals from Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes earned the team the second point against the New Jersey Devils. With another divisional matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins looming tomorrow night, New York will begin preparations today. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NYR 3, NJD 2 (4:34 Video via NHL.com)
• Brett Cyrgalis recaps last night's shootout victory over the Devils (NY Post)
• Steve Zipay notes that New York's penalty killing has had a bounce back season, as they now rank third in the league (Newsday)
• Karly Redpath juxtaposes the career of Brady Skjei with Ryan McDonagh's when he was Skjei's age to search for similarities (Blue Line Station)
• Brandon Cohen discusses how the Rangers have reaped the benefits of college players spurning the teams that drafted them, with Jimmy Vesey and Kevin Hayes leading the way (Blue Line Station)
• Dave Shapiro recaps the Hartford Wolfpack's 5-4 victory over the Hershey Bears from Friday night (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Postgame Notes: New York's first 6 on 5 goal since February helped keep the team's winning streak alive (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Ryan McDonagh, (1:18) J.T. Miller, (1:32) and Henrik Lundqvist (2:58)
• He appeared in 33 games as a Rangers, and is the only player to suit up for all five teams in the old Atlantic Division. Yesterday's player in the picture was Mr. Silky Mitts himself.....Arron Asham (Youtube)

Around the NHL:

• Dom Luszczyszyn details how a youth movement is in full force across the NHL (The Hockey News)
• Cam Tucker saw that former Rangers head coach John Tortorella notched his 500th career win last night, as his Columbus Blue Jackets knocked off the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 to extend their winning streak to nine games (NBC Sports)
• Kristina Rutherford chatted with Harrison Browne about being the first transgender professional hockey player, and the struggles encountered along the way (Sportsnet)
• Barney Branch impressed the fans at yesterday's Sabres-Hurricanes game with his saxophone-based rendition of the national anthem (1:30 Video via NHL.com)/

Do you know who the Ranger in the picture is?