Two teams that had high expectations, but are now looking at rebuilding, meet on Thursday night, as the New York Rangers visit the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers are in the midst of an extremely disappointing season and it could be that big name players like Rick Nash, Michael Grabner and Ryan McDonagh are traded before next week’s trading deadline. The Canadiens are in no better shape in the standings and they could be moving some of their players before next Monday. Let’s look at the game and NHL picks.
At 7:30 p.m. ET, check out the coverage of this NHL game on Thursday, February 22, 2018, at the Bell Centre.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Thursday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Rangers are in a complete freefall, as they have lost 8 of their last 10, including four straight. New York is looking at a major overhaul, as a number of their players are expected to be traded before Monday. The big question is not whether they move a player like Nash or Grabner, but whether they move team captain McDonagh, as that would indicate a full rebuild is in store. It is definitely not a good time for the Rangers. “This is definitely not a pleasant time for us,” coach Alain Vigneault said recently to the media. “But you have to keep doing your jobs, both players and coaches, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
New York has lost four straight and 15 of their last 21 and they are now the only team in the Metropolitan Division with a losing record. Six of their players are out due to injury and many others are waiting to see if they are traded. New York is a pathetic 9-19 on the road, with 14 games going over and 14 going under. They are scoring 2.8 goals per game and giving up 3.1 per contest.
The Canadiens are coming home after a four-game road trip, but they did have Wednesday off. Montreal is just 14-16 at home this season, with 13 games going over, 16 going under, with one push. They are scoring 2.5 goals per game and giving up 3.1 per contest. The Rangers get a lot of press for their rotten season, but the Canadiens have been even worse, as they are only ahead of Buffalo in the Eastern Conference standings.
Montreal has not gotten good play this season from supposed star goaltender Carey Price who is not living up to his huge $80 million dollar contract. He hasn’t gotten much help from his defense, but his .904 save percentage is simply not very good.
Special Teams
New York has actually been okay on special teams, as they are 14th on the power play and 9th in penalty killing. The Canadiens have been good on the power play at 6th in the league, but they have struggled in penalty killing at just 26th in the league.
Key Stat
The Rangers had won four straight in this series until late October of this season when it was Montreal winning 5-4 at home. Four of the last six meetings in the series have gone under the total. The Canadiens have taken six of the last ten in this series at home, with four of the last six going over.
Free NHL Picks
There is no question that this is an ugly matchup, as neither New York nor Montreal inspires any confidence. The Rangers have played poorly on the road, and Montreal hasn’t been that great at home. I will avoid a side and just look at the total. Both teams have poor defenses and it is hard to have any confidence in Henrik Lundqvist or Carey Price in goal. I will take this game on Thursday night to go over the total.
NHL Odds: Canadiens 4, Rangers 3
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