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Rangers lead NHL standings after Talbot torments Panthers

Marc Staal, Cam Talbot

Marc Staal, Cam Talbot

AP

When New York Rangers GM Glen Sather went all-in at the trade deadline, he was probably envisioning something like this.

After beating the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Sunday, the Rangers are clearly the top team in the Eastern Conference at the moment and hold tiebreakers over whichever West team wins tonight’s Nashville Predators - Anaheim Ducks game.

Goaltending’s been a big part of their strong work, even if the guy you’d expect to be driving things (Henrik Lundqvist) hasn’t been healthy enough to go.

Mackenzie Skapski turned heads with his first NHL shutout on Saturday, yet Cam Talbot continues to make an argument that he can be a No. 1 goalie himself. He stopped 38 out of 39 shots for his 17th win of the 2014-15 season, and it’s pretty clear that New York leaned heavily upon him today:

The Rangers now have 95 standings points, which seats them five points ahead against the New York Islanders (who have played three more games than the Rangers). The Blueshirts also have a seven-point lead and one game in hand on the Pittsburgh Penguins, so a division title looks very likely as of this writing.

(The Rangers also have a two-point edge and game in hand on Montreal for the East’s No. 1 spot, so ... yeah, it’s a pretty rosy situation right now.)

Is this to say the Rangers are perfect? No, it’s probably fair to wonder if this remarkable run of goaltending might hit a brick wall in the postseason. One could probably strain to find other negatives here and there.

Still, the Rangers are looking like a force in the East right now, and Talbot is a big reason why.

They do, however, have to keep an eye on Martin St. Louis’ injury situation. Read more about that here.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins