CHICAGO — There was hardly any hesitation in Alain Vigneault bringing out one of his favorite refrains — even if it has begun to sound stale.
“I think everybody knows that Hank’s the guy, Hank’s our No. 1. But I think at this time, Antti’s game is just a little bit better than Hank and we need to win hockey games,” Vigneault said before Henrik Lundqvist sat to start consecutive games, watching as his understudy, Antti Raanta made 26 saves in a 1-0 overtime win against his old Blackhawks teammates on Friday night at United Center.
That was obvious from the get-go, when Raanta, who got his second straight start, was as sharp as he has been all season, making up for a handful of mistakes from his teammates as the Rangers (19-9-1) played the second leg of a road back-to-back.