Bantering Points: 5/6/24

Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

Highlights: NYR 4, CAR 3 (5:02 video via NHL.com)

Game Recap: New York's stars showed out as Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, and Chris Kreider all recorded multiple points in a game where a dominant special teams showing was helped the Rangers strike first in the Metropolitan Division finals (CBS Sports)

Mark Cannizarro points to Jake Guentzel's presence in Carolina as an interesting subplot worth keeping an eye on as the series progresses (NY Post)

Cannizarro also pointed to Trocheck's strong performance against his former team and how in spite of Trocheck himself saying it's just another series, there's a little bit more juice there (NY Post)

Ethan Sears notes that with another game winning goal on Artemiy Panarin's ledger, the third in five playoff games, his postseason redemption arc is well underway (NY Post)

Neil Best writes that with five wins in five playoff contests even as the Hurricanes proved a step up from the Capitals, there's some wonder about when the Rangers will finally drop a game (Newsday)

Vincent Mercogliano offers his takeaways from the Blueshirts' Game 1 victory over the Hurricanes (LoHud)

Arthur $taple give$ five of hi$ own ob$ervation$ from the opening game of the $econd round (The Athletic)

Peter Baugh write$ about the importance of $trong center depth in the $tanley Cup Playoff$, and how Trocheck and Zibanejad'$ play a$ of late bode$ well for New York (The Athletic)

Around the NHL:

The Dallas Stars ended the Vegas Golden Knights' Stanley Cup title defense, knocking out the reigning champions with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 to advance to the second round and set up a clash with the Colorado Avalanche in the Central Division finals (Reuters)

Auston Matthews (TOR), Sasha Barkov (FLA), and Jordan Staal (CAR) have been named as finalists for the Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward (Sportsnet)

Florida Panthers' forward Sam Bennett has been ruled out for Game 1 of his team's series against the Boston Bruins, which is set to begin tonight (TSN)