Hartnett: Chill, Rangers Fans, Talbot's Got This

By Sean Hartnett
» More Columns

The Rangers may be without star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for a little while. He is day-to-day with a neck injury and will definitely miss Wednesday's meeting with the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden.

Should Lundqvist miss extended time, backup goaltender Cam Talbot has proven he can protect the castle.

Although Talbot's sparkling career numbers are a small sample, he has demonstrated to be perfectly capable of handling the pressures of being a starting goalie.

"We're very confident with Cam in goal," head coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's going to be fine tonight."

Talbot has shown an ability to rise to the occasion when called upon. Three of his four victories this season have been shutouts. Earlier this season, defenseman Dan Boyle described Talbot as good enough to start for a number of teams.

Talbot is 4-4-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 11 games this season, but has started only two of the Rangers' last 17 games. In 32 career appearances, Talbot is 16-10-2 with a 1.80 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

Vigneault initially said Lundqvist suffered an "upper body injury" but admitted it was related to the puck he took in the throat during Saturday's 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Lundqvist played the rest of that game after being checked on the ice by trainer Jim Ramsay.

In their afternoon update, the Rangers confirmed the neck injury, but it's not known if he will miss any more than just the one game.

As the backup to Talbot, the Rangers recalled 20-year-old Mackenzie Skapski from AHL Hartford, where he posted a 12-7-3 record with a 2.38 GAA, a .914 save percentage and two shutouts.

Lundqvist has been the NHL's hottest goalie over the last 20 games, going 16-4 with a 1.82 GAA, .938 save percentage and a shutout. He has allowed two goals or less in 15 of his past 19 starts.

What is worrying Rangers fans is the fact that there wasn't any previous indication that Lundqvist would miss Wednesday's game. Following Tuesday's practice, in which Lundqvist did not take part due to what the team called a "maintenance day," Vigneault confirmed that the 2011-12 Vezina Trophy winner was scheduled to start against the Bruins.

So now it's Talbot's chance to step up in tough matchup against the big-bodied Bruins. Boston has won four of its last five, and handled the Rangers 3-0 at TD Garden on Jan. 15 in the teams' previous meeting.

"They definitely had the upper hand in all layers of the game," Vigneault said.

Vigneault said he had previously planned to start Talbot in Nashville on Saturday or at home against the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

"I've looked at the schedule at length with Benoit (Allaire), and Cam's going to get his games," Vigneault said.

For years in college and in the minors, Talbot demonstrated the ability to handle high workloads. He's proven many wrong throughout his unconventional path from the University of Alabama-Huntsville to the bright lights of the NHL.

Talbot is an extremely determined athlete. He has worked hard with goaltending coach Allaire to refine his game. He is a very sound positional goalie. Allaire pushed for Talbot to make the team out of training camp last season. Following the demotion and eventual retirement of backup goaltender Martin Biron, Talbot shined during key stretches when Lundqvist wasn't at the top of his game.

Teammates tend to rally around Talbot and play confidently in front of him, mostly because he has exuded the confidence and ability of a star NHL goalie.

Follow Sean on Twitter at @HartnettHockey