It wasn’t supposed to go like this, but Cam Talbot will get his second start in three games in the Rangers net when he plays against the Islanders at the Garden on Tuesday night.
Franchise goaltender Henrik Lundqvist called out of work in the morning, citing a sickness, and coach Alain Vigneault found out when he showed up to the arena for the morning skate. Not concerned with any long-term effects on Lundqvist, the decision to give the start to Talbot was made easy by the fact that he has played so well in his first NHL season.
“Every time we’ve used Cam this year, he’s given us a chance to win,” Vigneault said of his backup goalie, who has tallied up a 10-3-0 record with a 1.62 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. “So our group is very confident when he’s in goal. When I told him he was playing tonight because Hank wasn’t feeling well, [he said], ‘No problem, Coach, I’m ready.’ So I’m confident he’s going to play a good game for us.”
Talbot started in the Rangers’ 4-1 against the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon, making 29 saves as the Blueshirts went to 11-3-1 in their past 15, vaulting them into second place in the Metropolitan Division. Lundqvist started in the 4-1 thumping of the Capitals on Sunday night, and he was supposed to go again on Tuesday before getting sick.
When Talbot showed up for the skate, goaltending coach Benoit Allaire alerted him that he would be playing, and he took it in stride – just as he has the whole of the whirlwind season, the 26-year-old out of Alabama-Huntsville who can’t be considered a rookie because of his age.
“I didn’t expect to step in and contribute like this so far,” Talbot said. “But I’ve been getting some pretty good goal support, the guys have been playing pretty well in front of me, so it’s just been a fun ride so far and hopefully I can keep it going.”
The team recalled David LeNeveu from their AHL Hartford affiliate to be an emergency backup.
The Rangers were going with the same lineup of skaters they had for the past seven games, meaning Michael Del Zotto and John Moore were to stay in on defense while Justin Falk remains a healthy scratch.
With only 12 forwards, Dan Carcillo stayed in up front for his eighth straight.
The Islanders made a slight lineup change, inserting veteran defenseman Radek Martinek for the hulking Matt Carkner, while Peter Regin reentered the lineup for enforcer Eric Boulton.
Kevin Poulin was set to make his seventh start in the past nine games, after sitting in favor of Anders Nilsson for Monday afternoon’s 4-3 shootout win against the visiting Flyers. Evgeni Nabokov hurt his quadriceps in the first period of a game against the Stars on Jan. 6, and Poulin has become the de facto starter for the second time this season.