The expectation is Cam Talbot will get the assignment in nets Sunday night when the Wild meet the Rangers at the Garden in the penultimate match of a heretofore disastrous nine-game homestand, during which the Blueshirts have won once (1-4-2).
And unless the trademark ceiling of the remodeled building caves in on the 26-year-old goaltender, there’s every chance he will play Monday night against the Maple Leafs as well, in the final game before the NHL’s civilized three-day Christmas break.
This wouldn’t represent a benching for Henrik Lundqvist so much as a mental-health break for The King, who lately has appeared to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders through the most wobbly sustained stretch of his career.
(Point of order: Remember when the Rangers put Mike Richter on IR for what essentially was a case of battle fatigue midway through the 2000-01 season? Ah, the old days … same as the new days?)
Talbot, who has a 6-2 record with a 1.74 goals-against average and .934 save percentage, hasn’t started in nearly three weeks, serving as the understudy for eight straight since a 4-2 defeat to the Jets at the Garden Dec. 2 that marked the first time in eight career starts in which he surrendered more than two goals.
The 26-year-old, however, did play 47:47 in relief Dec. 12, allowing the final goal of the Blueshirts’ 4-2 loss to the Blue Jackets.
Talbot told The Post on Friday morning he will be prepared for his next starting assignment whenever it occurs, and he has gone longer between starts, referencing his stay with the Rangers’ AHL club in Hartford.
“A couple of years ago I went for about a month toward the end of the season without starting,” said Talbot, who started 33 games in 2011-12 as the backup to Chad Johnson. “But then I won the job in the playoffs and started every game.”
Talbot, who was in his second pro season, recorded shutouts in each of the first two games of the then-named Whale’s opening round three-game sweep of Bridgeport before being beaten in six games in round two by Norfolk in the 2012 tournament.
“When I came up here, I expected to be in the position where I probably wouldn’t start very much, so I’ve been prepared for this,” said Talbot, who was summoned from the AHL Oct. 20. “I’ve worked hard in practice, I got that game in [against Columbus], and so I certainly feel ready to go whenever I get the call.”
The Rangers have matchup issues regardless of their alignment, but still, it’s one thing for coach Alain Vigneault to shift career center Brad Richards to the left in order to pack his top two lines, quite another for the coach to move Richards — who leads the team with nine goals, 17 assists (tied with Mats Zuccarello) and 26 points — to left wing on a third line in order to lend support to J.T. Miller in the middle, as he did in Friday’s 5-3 defeat to the Islanders.
Miller, rather than Carl Hagelin, was Vigneault’s choice to become the extra attacker when Lundqvist left the net with about 1:15 to go and the Rangers on a power play while trailing 4-3. Miller, who hadn’t been on since 10:16 of the third, joined forwards Zuccarello, Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot after Richards (on the point), Rick Nash, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider had changed following lengthy shifts.
Hagelin, who had been among the Rangers’ best forwards in each of the previous two matches and had jump again on Friday, played just 11:56, including only 2:13 in the first period and 3:38 in the third, while Kreider played a sum of 12:42. Pouliot got 16:59. …
The Rangers have trailed by two or more goals during each of their past six games, outscored by an aggregate 10-4 in the first period during that span.