The New York Rangers have two questions to answer in the wake of Henrik Lundqvist's vascular injury that will sideline the goalie for at least three weeks.

1) Do they think Cam Talbot can be a No. 1 goalie without a reliable backup until Lundqvist returns?

If Lundqvist is out for three weeks he'll miss at least 12 games, including the one he missed Wednesday. The Rangers have two sets of back-to-backs in that timeframe.

2) Do they need to acquire a veteran goalie to work in tandem with Talbot until Lundqvist is able to return, provided he is able to return this season?

The Rangers basically admitted Friday they're not 100 percent certain on the three-week timetable. The statement they released left open the possibility Lundqvist will be out longer.

Is the dust finally beginning to settle for New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider?

After replacing arguably the best goaltender in NHL history, Martin Brodeur, and establishing a Devils record by starting a career-high 20 straight games to begin the season, it appears Schneider has discovered a nice rhythm playing for co-coaches Lou Lamoriello, Scott Stevens and Adam Oates.

"Early on it was tough with the number of games I played, the travel, the road games; for me that was a learning experience to try and figure out how to do that on the fly and settle into a rhythm," Schneider said.

He went 9-8-2 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .914 save percentage during his 20-start run to begin the season; he was pulled four times during that stretch. Since Lamoriello replaced Peter DeBoer as coach Dec. 27, Schneider is 7-3-1 with a 1.90 GAA and .937 save percentage.

"I was sharp one night and inconsistent the next, but I think I've gotten over that," Schneider said. "Once you get into a rhythm you can really focus on that job and take more of a leadership role."

Michel Therrien listened to the question and laughed.

When the Montreal Canadiens' coach was asked following a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at home Tuesday whether his team's offensive issues run deeper than what was shown that night, Therrien pointed to the outrageous number of pucks the Canadiens threw toward the Sabres' net.

Facing the worst possession team in the NHL by far, one desperately trying to hold on to a one-goal lead in order to end a franchise-record 14-game losing streak, the Canadiens did throw a ton of rubber in the general direction of the Sabres' goal.

OTTAWA -- Defenseman Chris Phillips is poised to set the Ottawa Senators record for games played against the Washington Capitals at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

Phillips, who turns 37 on March 9, will play in his 1,179th NHL game, all with the Senators, one more than retired captain Daniel Alfredsson.

While reflecting on his career Wednesday, Phillips was asked if somewhere in his longevity there was a message for the young defensemen on the Senators (five of the eight are 25 or younger).

"Yeah, I'm not ready for them to take over," he said with a straight face and then broke into a laugh.

Turning serious, Phillips said, "I just try and lead by example. Do what I do and let them see that if you quietly go about what's asked of you this is possible of anyone. I was a high draft pick, but never a superstar or anything like that, just a journeyman guy who put in hard work and time. Good, long stories can come of that."

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers goalie Cam Talbot said he found out Tuesday night that he would be playing on national television Wednesday after learning Henrik Lundqvist had a neck injury.

Talbot didn't have to stand on his head in a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden, but for the Rangers, it's soothing to know they can rely on their backup goaltender to step in and perform when called upon.

In his first start since Jan. 15, Talbot made 18 saves to help the Rangers close the gap in the Metropolitan Division. New York is in third place, one point behind the New York Islanders and two behind the first-place Pittsburgh Penguins.

"I didn't really have to do a whole lot," Talbot said. "The guys did a great job in front of me. They didn't get too many Grade A chances tonight."

The Boston Bruins battled inconsistency and the injury bug this season while trying to keep pace in the Eastern Conference race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It appears now they will be a tough out when the postseason begins.

With a healthy captain, Zdeno Chara, and center David Krejci back in the mix, the Bruins went 8-1-3 in January and can leapfrog the New York Rangers in the standings in this week's Wednesday Night Rivalry game at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA).

Boston (27-16-7) and New York (29-15-4) will each be seeking its third consecutive victory. The Rangers enter the game one point ahead of the Bruins. Behind 30 saves from goalie Tuukka Rask, the Bruins defeated the Rangers 3-0 at TD Garden on Jan. 15.

Here are five things to watch in the game between the Bruins and Rangers:

CALGARY -- Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley has affectionately dubbed his team the "Cardiac Kids."

He wouldn't have it any other way.

"The bottom line is the outcome at the end of the game," Hartley said. "That's where it counts the most. As long as we have a goal more at the final buzzer, that's why we're here and that's why our fans come to Scotiabank Saddledome every game to see it. We take the game as they come. We adjust. We make changes if we need to. One thing is for sure: We can always count on the guys to come in and give us a very proud effort."

Once David Perron got over his mixed emotions about being traded again, the Pittsburgh Penguins right wing started to feel something quite different on Jan. 2, something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"I was probably the happiest guy in hockey that day," Perron told NHL.com last week before Pittsburgh's game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.

Nobody can blame him if he was. He went from last place to the Stanley Cup chase. He was moved out of a difficult situation with the Edmonton Oilers so he could become the right wing on a line with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

No offense to Leon Draisaitl and Matt Fraser, who were Perron's linemates for his last game with the Oilers, but playing with them is not like playing with Crosby and Chris Kunitz in Pittsburgh.

"Stepping into the room the first day, the way the room is shaped in Pittsburgh it's kind of rounded a little bit, and you could feel the confidence from the guys," Perron said. "I was sitting there going, 'This is awesome. This is going to be a lot of fun.' It just made me feel comfortable right away."

NEW YORK -- When Alain Vigneault was hired to coach the New York Rangers before the 2013-14 season, he wasn't taking over a rebuilding project. The Rangers had reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs the three seasons prior, and seven out of the past eight.

Still, there were areas in need of fixing and a coach was needed that preached a philosophy that addressed the Rangers' weaknesses. When the Rangers host the Boston Bruins in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game (8 p.m. ET), it will be Vigneault's 131st regular-season game with the Rangers, and the difference since he took over has been night and day.

Under Vigneault the Rangers have blossomed into one of the better offensive teams in the League. New York is averaging its most goals per game (2.98) since it scored 3.05 per game in the 2005-06 season. And while it's team speed that paces the Rangers, it's their coach's system that, more than a season and a half into his tenure, has them running at top speed.

"It's no secret, and you see all the teams in the League that are capable of playing a high-pace game," Vigneault said recently. "They're all teams that have a five-man unit. When they don't have the puck, to get it back, whether it's in their zone, the neutral zone or on the forecheck, but when their transition game is there it's from a breakout, to the transition to the neutral zone to the offensive zone."

At first it seemed like life for the Boston Bruins without injured defenseman Zdeno Chara would be OK.

Chara tore a ligament in his knee in a loss to the New York Islanders on Oct. 23 but the Bruins won six of their next seven games. It looked like maybe the Bruins, who have Chara signed through the 2017-18 season at an NHL salary-cap charge of just less than $7 million, were fast-forwarding to the part of their history where they don't rely on their 6-foot-9 Norris Trophy-winning defenseman as much.

Then reality hit.

The Bruins managed a winning record (11-7-1) in the 19 games Chara missed during his seven weeks on the sidelines but were 2-4-1 in the seven games before his return Dec. 11. Then integrating Chara into the lineup proved problematic; Boston went 0-1-2 in his first three games back.