from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Anyone and everyone has to be a little bit surprised at this turn of events, even the man of the hour himself, who spent a hockey hour fending off repeated attacks and assaults led by the irrepressible Alex Ovechkin.

“To this extent, maybe a little bit,” Talbot, who has recorded a .923 save percentage and 2.27 goals against average since Lundqvist went down, told The Post. “To go on a run like this, you never really see it coming.

“With so much parity in the league, to beat the top teams the way we have over this stretch, it’s kind of unbelievable. Except that we do believe in this room and we always have.”

The Rangers completed a five-game stretch against the Predators, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Islanders and Caps by going 4-0-1, winning the final two against tough, physical teams on back-to-back nights, yielding one goal to each opponent. They are — get this — 31-7-3 since a Dec. 6 defeat in Detroit.

“I think we’ve had confidence all along in our ability to play any style necessary to win,” said Ryan McDonagh, resolute with partner Dan Girardi in their matchup against Ovechkin. “We understand what it takes and we’re willing to do it.

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