The Rangers turn to Cam Talbot tomorrow against the Flyers.
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With Henrik Lundqvist missing a third straight practice with an undisclosed injury, the Rangers will turn to Cam Talbot tomorrow in Philly. The 26-year old rookie couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I have been waiting a long time for this, working towards this, so I’ll be ready if I get the call,” Talbot told Jim Cerny in a story that appeared on Blueshirts United. “I am extremely excited. It’s every kid’s dream that grows up playing hockey to one day get the chance to play in the NHL. I just can’t wait ’til that time comes. I’ll have to approach it like any other game. It’ll be tough to control those emotions, but I’ll have to do my best to settle myself down and just focus on the game.”

“I basically told (Talbot) he’s in, to enjoy it,” said Alain Vigneault. “He’s obviously been waiting for this opportunity a long time and he’s played real well so far this year at our training camp and in Hartford, so he’s ready for this opportunity.”

If Talbot can duplicate what we saw in preseason against an even more struggling Flyers, goaltending shouldn’t be an issue. What the team has to do is play better in front of him. There have been too many instances where they’ve hung Lundqvist out to dry. So often, he’s bailed them out. But an awful start has the hockey world scratching their heads. Some wondered if it was the goalie pads while others thought the added pressure of a new contract was weighing on his mind. As it turns out, Vigneault revealed that he has a minor injury.

“If this had been a playoff game (Lundqvist) would probably be playing,” explained the head coach. “It’s something that is day to day, that we can nip it in the bud by taking one more day or two. It’s something we should be able to turn the page on and you won’t hear about it any more.”

According to Daily News Rangers beat writer Pat Leonard, Vigneault said Lundqvist’s ailment is “something he’s had for, I want to say, maybe 10 days. But it wasn’t anything significant. He played real well in Washington, and it acted up a little bit after the Jersey game.”   The coach said on Sunday, the day after the 4-0 loss to the Devils, Lundqvist “just felt it more and consulted our doctors. They took a look at him and he had some irritation, so we figured we might as well nip this in the bud right now.”

Whatever it is, maybe it helps explain a poor start that’s seen him post a 3.45 GAA and .890 save percentage. Vigneault also noted that something had been bothering Lundqvist for 10 days. What was all that talk about the Devils not being four goals better? He took a lot of criticism from the new coach and Brad Richards. Without Hank, this is a lottery team. Hopefully, he’ll come back stronger and playing the kind of goalie Garden Faithful have come to expect. The home opener is Monday Oct. 28 against the Canadiens.

Vigneault is hoping the team will raise their level with Talbot making his NHL debut. “If for whatever reason we need to use Talbot I think our guys will try real hard for him,” explained Vigneault. “It would be his first regular season NHL game so I would expect our group to rally around that and play real hard in front of him.”

That means being harder on the puck with defensemen making better reads. In a read and react system that emphasizes more man to man defensively, they must be quicker. Something Mike Del Zotto hinted at. He’ll return to the lineup tomorrow in place of Justin Falk. In five games, he has no points and is a minus-six. They need him to step it up offensively. Dan Girardi has probably struggled worse than anyone. He’s been caught out of position several times leading to goals against and an ugly minus-seven rating. Sadly, Marc Staal’s minus-eight ranks worse. The top four that also includes Ryan McDonagh needs to get it together. Especially with the offense missing Ryan Callahan, Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin, who at least is getting closer to the Oct. 29 target date at the Islanders. They can certainly use his jam.

As for lines, Chris Kreider skated with Derek Stepan and Richards. Derick Brassard was with Benoit Pouliot and J.T. Miller. Brian Boyle practiced with Taylor Pyatt and Jesper Fast. Mats Zuccarello was an alternate working with Pyatt and Fast making him a candidate to be scratched. He hasn’t done anything so far and has only seven shots in seven games. It looks like Pyatt stays in. The fourth line is Dominic Moore with Derek Dorsett and Brandon Mashinter.

Regardless of who plays, it’s time for this team to step up. That means more inspired play from Stepan and more aggression from Brassard. Both are key components of the offense who haven’t done enough. I’m curious to see what Kreider gives them on the top line. Richards said he pressed in preseason. Kreider just needs to relax and play. Hopefully, it’ll translate.