Bantering Points: 12/24/24

Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

Highlights: NJD 5, NYR 0 (5:03 video via NHL.com)

Game Recap: It was another ugly effort from start to finish for the Rangers as the penalty kill was gashed for three goals against, the team was shut out, and Chris Kreider being sat as a healthy scratch did not appear to have any positive effect on the team (CBS)

Mollie Walker discusses the message that was sent with Kreider sitting as a healthy scratch (NY Post)

Colin Stephenson notes that Monday's matinee defeat dropped the Blueshirts to below .500 for the first time in the 2024-25 campaign (Newsday)

Brian Abate attempts to draw similarities between the Kaapo Kakko trade and the infamous Pavel Buchnevich deal Chris Drury made in his first off-season as general manager (The Hockey Writers)

Arthur $taple and Peter Baugh gave their thought$ on the $tate of the Ranger$ prior to Monday'$ di$mantling in Newark (The Athletic)

Stan Fischler argues that even as New York starts to fall out of the playoff picture, making the postseason tournament still needs to be a goal for this team (The Hockey News)

Remy Mastey heard from Peter Laviolette about why Kreider sat as a healthy scratch for the first time since 2013 (The Hockey News)

Around the NHL:

Cale Makar, (COL) William Nylander, (TOR) and Patrik Laine (MTL) were named as the league's three stars of the week (TSN)

The Buffalo Sabres snapped their 13-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, hanging a touchdown on the New York Islanders in a 7-1 road victory (Sportsnet)

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby tallied a goal and three assists during his team's 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, tying him with Mario Lemieux on the franchise and all-time assist leaderboard (ESPN)