Could Dubnyk get 40? Could Talbot get 30? Did Pavelec blow it? Why I traded Nelson for Vrbata; More …

***

The Rangers effectively shut down John Tavares in the battle of New York. And they also shut down Kyle Okposo, who was back in action. He was due back in mid- to late- March, but as per usual with NHL players, his return was a week early. Although he’ll end up on the Tavares line soon enough, he wasn’t there last night. After the game that Kennedy had with Tavares on the weekend, the coach wanted to keep that line intact. The problem with that theory is – the big game that he had with Tavares was against Toronto. In that situation, my grandmother would have had a big game. I don’t expect Kennedy to last there. I also think it will be Okposo and Bailey on that line and they’ll keep Lee on the second line.

Capuano also didn’t want to break the second line, which meant that Okposo toiled on the third line. Here were the line combos:

*

If Cam Talbot is 15-6-4, are the Rangers in a rush to get Henrik Lundqvist back? In the last four games he’s 3-0-1 and has allowed just four goals. He’s handling a heavy workload just fine. Lundqvist is taking shots now, but no timetable for his return. But I would suggest that he’s going to miss at least another two weeks and then return in time to get in five or six games of action to get warmed up just in time for the postseason. So Talbot probably has a shot at 23 wins.

*

Interesting Dallas line combos:

With Seguin back, Eaves is back on that line. And they’ve reunited Hemsky with Spezza (forgive me if they did that earlier, I haven’t checked the Dallas lines or watched a Dallas game in several weeks) and Hemsky fired seven shots on goal. Ruff also put the two prospects on Horcoff’s line.

Despite all the shots, Hemsky is pointless in seven games (23 shots).