Cam Talbot acknowledges the home crowd after being selected 1st star during his shutout of the Canes.
AP Photo by John Minchillo/Getty Images

The Rangers have lost only twice over the last 15 games. Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to the Islanders stopped a five-game win streak. It put them seven points out of first place. Combined with the Caps’ latest victory- a 1-0 shutout of the Flyers- they trail third place Washington by four. They do have three games at hand including tonight’s latest test when they visit the Bruins.

Winners of four straight, Boston is finally healthy. Zdeno Chara is back to his nasty self dropping Cedric Paquette in a win over the Lightning. Boston got two goals from 2014 first round pick David Pastrnak. Since his recall, he’s scored four times with a pair each in victories over the Flyers and Bolts. He’s playing on a line with David Krejci and Brad Marchand. Claude Julien has reunited Milan Lucic with Patrice Bergeron. The bruising power forward has responded with six points (3-3-6)over his last four games and has nine over 10.

Carl Soderberg quietly has 20 assists and 29 points anchoring the third line. With interchangeable forwards Reilly Smith, Loui Eriksson and Chris Kelly, Julien has a lot of options. He can still send out Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell on the fourth line.

The key ingredient is Chara, who missed significant time. Partnered with emerging blueliner Dougie Hamilton, that gives Boston a formidable tandem that can play offensively and defensively as well as any in the league. Torey Krug continues to put up points with five assists over his last four and nine points in 10. The Bruins definitely miss Johnny Boychuk, who’s been a big part of the Islanders’ resurgence. But they still boast a strong top four with vet Dennis Seidenberg healthy.

2014 Vezina winner Tuukka Rask has had a down season. He’s won 18 games with a 2.49 goals-against-average, .913 save percentage and only one shutout. However, he has won his past three starts allowing six goals on 83 shots. No coincidence that it’s come with the team improvement.

Currently, the Bruins have 52 points and sit fourth in the Atlantic. They’re tied with the Rangers in points but have played four more games. Both Original Six clubs sit in the wild cards three ahead of the Panthers and five up on the fading Leafs who lost again last night at Anaheim. Unless something unforeseen happens, it looks like the Eastern playoff picture is pretty set with nine teams vying for eight spots. The Rangers want to take advantage of their extra games to make up ground on teams ahead of them. They can still catch the Pens and have three left with the Islanders all at Nassau Coliseum.

With it being a back-to-back, Cam Talbot gets the call tonight ending Henrik Lundqvist’s streak of 38 consecutive starts against the Bruins. His career mark is 21-10-2 with a 1.85 GAA, .937 save percentage and six shutouts versus Boston. Talbot came on in relief of Lundqvist Tuesday stopping all 12 shots in the third. He’s won his last two starts including a 28-save performance in a 4-3 win over the Kings. Talbot is 4-3-1 with a 2.06 GAA, .929 save percentage and three shutouts.

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Derek Stepan is out with a upper body injury. Alain Vigneault has tweaked the lines. Derick Brassard stays with Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello while J.T. Miller moves up to center Chris Kreider and Martin St. Louis. Dominic Moore will center the third line with Carl Hagelin and Lee Stempniak. That leaves Kevin Hayes anchoring Tanner Glass and Jesper Fast. Basically, it’s a demotion for Hayes who struggled against the Isles. Glass has been much discussed. He has sat out the last six. Vigneault wants to see him in on the forecheck. He must keep it simple. If that means not always going for the big hit, so be it. If he does, he better make sure he finishes his check.

I won’t get into the silly nonsense over Glass. When the Rangers signed him, it was a big mistake. But like Taylor Pyatt, he’s a Vigneault guy. That’s why he’s on the roster and played most of the season until recently. How much can the same ‘expert bloggers’ continue to cite Corsi with Glass, who isn’t that kind of player? It has gotten downright loathsome. Twitter is filled with garbage tweets about a bit player who really doesn’t have much impact. When our best players perform, the team excels. End of story.

Updating the Bruins lines, Lucic is playing with Krejci and Pastrnak. Here are their projected lines along with the Rangers below:

Boston Bruins

Lucic-Krejci-Pastrnak

Marchand-Bergeron-Smith

Kelly-Soderberg-Eriksson

Paille-Campbell-Cunningham

Chara-Hamilton

Seidenberg-McQuaid

Krug-Miller

Rask

Svedberg

New York Rangers

Kreider-Miller-St. Louis

Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello

Hagelin-Moore-Stempniak

Glass-Hayes-Fast

McDonagh-Girardi

Staal-Boyle

Moore-Klein

Talbot

Lundqvist