Bantering Points: 4/9/17

The Rangers will close out the regular season today, as they welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins into town for a divisional battle that should have all the intensity of a Friday night beer league game. Both teams are locked into their playoff positions, so look for Alain Vigneault to use today's game as one final opportunity to try some things out before the playoffs begin. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: OTT 3, NYR 1 (2:57 Video via NHL.com)
• Game Recap: Mika Zibanejad and Derick Brassard both scored yesterday, so by NHL rules nobody won that trade (CBS)
• Brett Cyrgalis speculates that Alain Vigneault is tired of not having his regular lineup together as the season has winded down (NY Post)
• Steve Zipay previews New York's playoff series against the Atlantic Division champion Montreal Canadiens (Newsday)
• Jess Rubenstein delivers another prospect update, with bits on Gabriel Fontaine, Sergei Zborovskiy, and more (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Scott Charles offers his thoughts on yesterday's 3-1 defeat at the Canadian Tire Centre (Blueshirt Bulletin)
• Dave Shapiro suggests that fans should understand both sides of the Tanner Glass vs Pavel Buchnevich debate (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Drew McCaffrey dives into how the Rangers could find a short term solution to their defensive woes (Blue Line Station)
• Postgame Notes: Taylor Beck made his Rangers debut yesterday in Ottawa (Official Team Site)
• Postgame Interviews: Alain Vigneault,(1:57) Henrik Lundqvist,(3:11) and Mika Zibanejad (1:10) (Official Team Site)
• He appeared in 18 games on Broadway after coming over from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for two of Glen Sather's most shrewd signings, Donald Brashear and Pat Rismiller. Yesterday's player in the picture was.....Todd White (Wikipedia)/

Around the NHL:

• In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs stormed back from a 3rd Period deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3, earning their first playoff berth in four seasons and eliminating the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning from playoff contention (Pension Plan Puppets)
• A hat trick from Jarid Lukosevicius was enough for Denver to knock off Minnesota-Duluth to win the NCAA Championship (Sportsnet)
• Kyle Cantlon reports that former Arizona Coyotes farmhand Craig Cunningham was able to skate and stick handle on his own, as he took to the ice prior to last night's contest in Arizona (Puck Daddy)
• Cam Tucker hears that the NHL Draft Lottery is expected to happen on April 29th (NBC Sports)/