Killa Cam Talbot Blanks Blackhawks To Kick Off Tough Rangers Road Swing

I said in a blog that’s disappeared since switching to the new site that the silver lining of Lundqvist’s injury could be Cam Talbot proving to the rest of the league that he’s capable of being a #1. All he had to do was keep the team afloat, but there was an opportunity for his stock to skyrocket. I’d say anchoring his team to 23 of 30 points has accomplished that and then some. There have been a couple of shaky games for sure, but Killa Cam is now hitting stride. Over his last 6, he’s turned away 95% of opponents’ shots with a goals-against well below 2 thanks to a pair of shutouts. Talbot’s growing more & more comfortable filling some royal skates despite stiff competition from Nashville, Detroit & Chicago. Teams with goalie issues will be lining up to pry Cam from Sather this off-season. Pretty awesome story for a 27 year-old undrafted goalie out of the University of Bumblefuck Alabama-Huntsville.

Rick Nash hasn’t scored with someone in net for over two weeks. Marty has all but disappeared after showing signs of life in mid-February. Blockbuster acquisition Keith Yandle has yet to produce in his new sweater. Still, the Blueshirts continue to roll with contributions from all over the roster. As they proved in last year’s run to the Cup Final, depth is key and you’d be hard pressed to find a deeper team than the Rangers. They’ve got two number-ones in goal and a defensive corps that matches up with any other 1-through-6. Kevin Hayes has filled the vacancy left by Brad Richards and helped provide scoring punch from the third line while Jesper Fast & newcomer James Sheppard (who played great last night) flank Dom Moore for a Glass-free 4th line that AV can rely on. Despite stretches without their #1 center, #1 defenseman or #1 goalie the defending Eastern champs are right there for #1 in the Metro.

If the Rangers want the division, knocking off the (for now) Metro-leading New York Islanders in their final regular-season trip to that dump in Nassau tomorrow would help. The Isles are reeling a bit – 5-3-3 since these two teams last met. You know things are iffy in Fishstick land since this once-unbeatable squad in extra hockey has dropped their last three OT games. But they still hold a 1-point division lead (thanks to 3 games in hand) & even though the good guys won last month, it wasn’t easy. Tavares is doing everything he can to make sure Halak doesn’t ruin their season & quite frankly I hate having to hate him. For as good as he is though, JT’s gonna have his hands full trying to figure out the red-hot Killa Cam.

- thanks for the pic Richie