Bantering Points: 9/19/17

The Rangers kicked their pre-season off with a bang last night, earning a 1-0 overtime victory over the New York Islanders. Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NYR 1, NYI 0 (3:43 video via NHL.com)
• Justin Tasch notes that Lias Andersson had a solid pre-season debut and took the first step towards making New York's roster (NY Daily News)
• Larry Brooks comments on Andersson's growth from the little kid running around Frolunda's locker room to a young man looking to break into the NHL (NY Post)
• Brett Cyrgalis hears from Tony DeAngelo about how people need to get over his political beliefs and focus on the talent and electricity he'll bring to the Rangers lineup (NY Post)
• Brandon Cohen makes his predictions for the Blueshirts' opening night roster (Blue Line Station)
• John Williams examines which players could be named alternate captains to replace Derek Stepan and Dan Girardi (Blue Line Station)
• Dave Shapiro also offered his thoughts on who could step into the team's leadership void (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Michael Rappaport reminisces on Rod Gilbert's time on Broadway (The Hockey Writers)
• Tom Castro highlights New York's lack of toughness as a major flaw in the roster (Elite Sports NY)
• Postgame Notes: The Rangers have won 13 of their last 15 pre-season games at Madison Square Garden, and the team won 62.3% of faceoffs (Official Team Site)
• Media Availability: Alain Vigneault,(2:52) Ondrej Pavelec,(2:10) J.T. Miller,(1:30) Lias Andersson,(1:19) and Neal Pionk (1:09) (Official Team Site)
• He attended the Rangers' training camp in 2015 after washing out if the Islanders organization, and only lasted one game with the team before being cut. Yesterday's player in the picture was.....Kirill Kabanov (Wikipedia)

Around the NHL:

• James O'Brien reports that the Minnesota Wild have agreed to a two year, $11 million contract extension with their captain, Mikko Koivu (NBC Sports)
• Erik Wollschlager names three Metropolitan Division prospects to keep an eye on as teams begin trimming their rosters (FanRag)
• Andrew Bottomley recalls five hockey games that have gone down in infamy for their sub-par ice conditions (Sportsnet)
• Kristen Shilton acknowledged that although a handful of players have commented, the Toronto Maple Leafs organization has yet to say anything about the Joffrey Lupul situation (TSN)
• Speaking of teams that "cheat", Jared Clinton ponders what the Chicago Blackhawks could do with the cap space they'll gain by placing Marian Hossa on Long Term Injured Reserve (The Hockey News)

Do you know who the former Ranger in the picture is?