The Chicago Blackhawks visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday on NBCSN in a rematch of last week’s game that the Rangers won 1-0 in overtime in Chicago. This is a battle between top teams as the Blackhawks are leading the Central division while the Rangers are battling for first in the Metropolitan. Last week it was a battle of backup goaltenders and that could be the case again with Scott Darling going against Antti Raanta.
This war on the ice will go down Tuesday, December 13, 2016, at 7 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden. The game will be televised live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Tuesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
These teams just met last week in Chicago and it was the Blackhawks listed as a -145 favorite with the total at 5.5. That line opened with Chicago just a -125 favorite and bettors pounded the Blackhawks and ended up with a loss as Chicago was beaten in overtime 1-0. The Rangers will be listed as the home favorite in this contest with the total at 5 over or 5.5 under.
Chicago is beginning a three-game road trip with this game at MSG. The Blackhawks are just 6-7 on the road this season with eight going under, just one game going over with four pushes.
New York is concluding a quick two-game homestand on Tuesday. The Rangers were 10-5 in their first 15 home games with 9 going over, 5 going under with 1 push.
Special Teams
Chicago continues to struggle on special teams as they are just 19th on the power play at 16.1% and last in the league in penalty killing at just over 73%. Chicago has still managed to average 2.6 goals per game while they are giving up only 2.3 goals per contest.
The Rangers have been good on the power play as they are 6th in the league at 21.8% which is one reason their offense has been so good. New York is averaging 3.4 goals per game, 1st in the league. New York is 6th in penalty killing at 84.9%. The Rangers are allowing just 2.4 goals per contest.
Goalie Report
There is a good chance that both of the backup goalies will go against each other again in this game since they were both great last week. The Blackhawks are without starting goaltender Corey Crawford who is out as he recovers from an appendectomy so Scott Darling is getting all the work. Darling was 5-4in his first 9 starts with a 2.23 goals against average.
New York’s starting goaltender is Henrik Lundqvist but backup Raanta has played better this season and is making a strong case for the starting job. Raanta was 7-1 in his first games with a goals against average of 1.83. “Any team in this league, the way it is now, needs two goaltenders to be able to have success," head coach Alain Vigneault said, "and we're very fortunate that we have two goaltenders that can do a good job for us.”
Raanta was great last week against his former team and he shutout the Blackhawks 1-0. "When you play against your former team, you always want to play good and maybe pinch them a little bit," Raanta said.
Free NHL Picks
The Rangers have won five of the last seven meetings in this series with five of the seven going under the total. The teams have split their last eight in New York with two of the last three going under.
The Blackhawks haven’t been anything special on the road while the Rangers have been very good at home. If Raanta gets the start as expected then I like the Rangers to get the home win and I also think this will be a higher scoring game than last week so I will go over the total.
NHL Odds: Rangers 4, Blackhawks 2
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