Bantering Points: 3/31/17

The Rangers are back in action tonight, as they're set to clash with the flightless birds from the city of steel, bridges, and awesome Fallout DLC. A loss tonight all but locks New York into the first Wild Card position, while a win could make the race for seeding a bit more interesting down the stretch. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Brett Cyrgalis redpills his readers about the Henrik Lundqvist situation (NY Post)
• Cyrgalis also passes along news from Alain Vigneault that despite being a healthy scratch tonight, Jimmy Vesey be a factor in New York's playoff lineup (NY Post)
• Brian Heyman suggests that the Rangers need to find some consistency in their game in order to avoid another early playoff exit (Newsday)
• Justin Tasch hears from J.T. Miller about his recent fourth line demotion (NY Daily News)
• Game Preview: With injuries mounting up for Pittsburgh, look for the Rangers to everything in their power to fight for a more difficult playoff matchup for the second consecutive season (CBS)
• Jess Rubenstein delivers another prospect update, with bits on Sean Day, Sergei Zborovskiy, and more (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Justin Rutherford offers his take on team chemistry vs talent (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Brandon Cohen highlights the issue of Ryan McDonagh's late season usage now that the team has clinched a playoff berth (Blue Line Station)
• John Williams examines the likelihood of Alain Vigneault getting fired following the 16-17 season (Blue Line Station)
• Post Practice Interviews: Alain Vigneault,(9:21) Chris Kreider,(2:14) Brendan Smith,(2:40) and Henrik Lundqvist (4:21) (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Peter O'Leary, a former executive for the Ottawa Senators, is suing team owner Eugene Melnyk for $1.55 Million over wrongful termination (Puck Daddy)
• Joey Alfieri reports that longtime New Jersey Devil Patrik Elias has decided to retire after 1,240 games in the NHL (NBC Sports)
• Rory Boylen saw that Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland remains ignorant to what his team must do in order to avoid languishing in mediocrity for the foreseeable future (Sportsnet)
• Brian Costello ponders what a re-draft of last summer's Entry Draft would look like (The Hockey News)/