Bantering Points: 12/30/16

New York's powerplay came through in a big way last night, as they scored four goals en route to a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Matt Puempel, who inexplicably continues to get time on the man advantage, made the most of it by netting three of the team's four goals on the powerplay as he recorded the first hat trick of his career. With Arizona now in the rear view mirror, the Rangers will prepare for a game against yet another cellar-dwelling team, the Colorado Avalanche. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NYR 6, ARI 3 (3:43 Video via NHL.com)
• Brett Cyrgalis reports that Rick Nash's return to the lineup has been pushed back to next week due to his lingering groin injury (NY Post)
• Steve Zipay recaps last night's 6-3 victory at Gila River Arena (Newsday)
• Sean Hartnett points out that despite the team's victory, the Rangers' defense corps revealed a number of holes during last night's game (CBS)
• Steven Loffredo thinks discusses how Derek Stepan has busted out of his scoring slump at a great time (The Hockey Writers)
• Tom Urtz Jr. makes the case for why Stepan is one of the best, and most underrated, centers in the NHL (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Dave Shapiro offered his thoughts on the team before last night's game (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Timothy Haggerty breaks down the blockbuster deal between the Rangers and Coyotes from two years ago, and evaluates who won (Blue Line Station)
• John Williams and Garret Gartino listed the top five saves, and surprises for New York during 2016 (Blue Line Station)
• Postgame Points: Puempel's pawky play powers the Rangers past Arizona (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Ryan McDonagh, (1:38) Alain Vigneault, (1:37) J.T. Miller, (1:10) Antti Raanta, (2:01) and Matt Puempel (1:55) (Official Team Site)
• He appeared in 10 games as a Ranger at the turn of the century, and averaged over two PIM's per game. Yesterday's player in the picture was.....Jason Doig (Wikipedia)/

Around the NHL:

• Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell's streak of 432 consecutive games played came to an end last night, as he watched his team defeat the Nashville Predators 3-2 (NBC Sports)
• Travis Yost dives into the Colorado Avalanche, and how they could find themselves in some dubious company by season's end (TSN)
• Greg Wyshynski previews tomorrow night's history-making showdown between the Minnesota Wild, winners of twelve straight games, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, winners of fourteen straight games (Puck Daddy)
• John Scott headlines the top 10 storylines in hockey from 2016 (The Hockey News)/

Do you know who the Ranger in the picture is?