Cam Talbot turns aside a shot during the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Wild.
Getty Images/Seth Wenig

One of their best performances of the year was punctuated by some strong quotes. Indeed, the Rangers finally had something to be happy about before Christmas. With one game remaining tomorrow against Toronto, they can conclude a record nine-game homestand with two straight wins. Something that’s been a rare occurrence so far.

”We owed the fans this one,” said winning netminder Cam Talbot after finishing with 24 saves. ”They’ve been supporting us quite a bit lately, and we haven’t really produced for them.”

”There is not a whole lot of time to think about it,” Talbot added regarding their 2-4-2 record on the current homestand. ”Just go out there and try to carry this game into tomorrow.”

Considering how cool he reacted, perhaps Talbot should get the nod against the Leafs. After allowing an early goal to Jason Pominville, he stopped everything else Minnesota through at him. The Rangers also played better making life easy for Talbot. A welcome sight that hasn’t been the norm. With Henrik Lundqvist struggling, there’s nothing wrong if Alain Vigneault decides to give his capable rookie backup the start. Maybe an extended holiday vacation will help recharge Lundqvist. After the break, the Rangers go on the road ending the calendar year at Washington, Tampa Bay and Florida. They also travel to Pittsburgh and Toronto and don’t return home till Jan. 6 for Columbus.

”He’s a young kid that’s learning the NHL game,” Vigneault said of Talbot while already hinting that he knew who would start next game. ”He came in here and did what we expect of our goalies and gave us a chance to win.”

”Our compete level, especially in the second period, was probably our best four-line, six-defense pairing in a long time,” the Rangers coach added.

Indeed, nobody played less than 11 minutes with Chris Kreider getting the least due to a few quiet shifts. Ironically, his fluke goal concluded the scoring in the Rangers’ 4-1 laugher over the Wild. Vigneault also had Mike Del Zotto paired up with Anton Stralman. They were solid defensively with neither making any notable mistakes including a more active Del Zotto. In fact, all three pairs including Justin Falk and John Moore were effective. Ryan McDonagh had a strong night recording an assist and going plus-two and partner Dan Girardi had his best defensive effort in quite some time.

”Probably our best game all year when it comes to playing a full 60 minutes and everyone contributing,” goal scorer Carl Hagelin accurately stated. ”We definitely needed one of these just to feel good about ourselves.”

There’s only one way to find out. Beat the Leafs- one of the teams in front of them for the wildcard and maybe the Rangers are on the right track. We’ll get a more definitive answer in 24 hours.