Rangers Cam-do!
Rally behind rookie again
MONDAY NIGHT, HBO’s “24/7” cameras were at the Garden to witness it firsthand: The Rangers, for whatever reason, play better these days in front of backup goalie Cam Talbot than they do in front of Henrik Lundqvist, and that led to a second straight win, 2-1 in a shootout, over the Winter Classic-bound Toronto Maple Leafs. “There’s more desperation in our game, there’s more emotion, more desperation about winning,” center Derick Brassard said. “We’re not playing any differently, X’s and O’s, just with more emotion.”
The Blueshirts (18-18-2) didn’t get back to .500 without a bit of controversy, despite leading 1-0 on J.T. Miller’s goal 7:04 into the third period — the first time in eight games that the Rangers have scored first.
Talbot (25 saves) nearly had his third shutout in 10 starts, but with 1:43 to play in regulation, just 10 seconds after the Rangers had killed off a Chris Kreider delay-of-game penalty, Toronto center Nazem Kadri was credited with a controversial goal to tie it 1-1. Talbot was furious because he had stopped a wraparound by Toronto’s David Clarkson, and after Clarkson jabbed at Talbot’s pads, the puck was not visible, but no whistle was blown. Kadri then swooped in, stabbed at Talbot’s pads and the puck trickled in. A review by the league officials in Toronto upheld the call on the ice as a goal, which was strange given the explaination Alain Vigneault said on-ice officials had offered. “The referee had told Brad (Richards) on the ice that if they didn’t score on the wraparound, then it wasn’t a goal,” Vigneault said. “They didn’t score on (Clarkson’s) wraparound. Kadri came in front in the middle and poked it in. The puck was underneath Cam’s pad. How Toronto saw it differently, I’m not quite sure, but you’ve just got to play through those things, and that’s what we did.”
Talbot said the puck was under his pad, but helped his team “push forward” with the unwavering confidence that has made him such a stalwart in his first NHL season at age 26. “We had to move forward and win a different way,” he said.
In the shootout, Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan beat Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier (42 saves) to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead after two rounds. Then Talbot won his first NHL shootout by closing his pads on the final attempt by Kadri, which must have felt satisfying as payback for the third period goal. “Yeah,” Talbot said with a smile.
Kreider and Benoit Pouliot — who has points in five straight games — assisted on Miller’s goal. It took the Rangers all night to beat the sturdy Bernier, who salvaged a point for Toronto (18-16-5) by himself. The Blueshirts dominated the second period for a second straight game, outshooting Toronto 16-0 over a 15-minute, 36-second span.
The Rangers went 3-4-2 on their team-record nine-game December home stand. That included a 1-4-2 record with Lundqvist in goal — when the Blueshirts failed to hold any opponent under three goals and allowed four or more goals in five games — and a 2-0-0 mark with Talbot, who allowed one goal to Minnesota on Sunday and the one to the Leafs.