Metropolitan Division rivals meet on Sunday night on NBCSN, as the New York Rangers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both teams come into this game with similar records and they both come into this contest with no rest, as the Rangers were home against the Islanders on Saturday afternoon, while the Penguins were home against Detroit in a Saturday matinee. The teams have met twice this season, with the road team winning each time and both games going over the total.
Don't miss the ice action from PPG Paints Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 14, 2018. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Metropolitan Division is going to be quite a race down the stretch, as only 11 points separates all eight teams. The Rangers have two games in hand on Pittsburgh and they are two points in front of the Penguins. Despite that fact, the Penguins look to be in better position to make the playoffs. The Rangers are fortunate just to be in playoff contention, as their roster looks weak. It also doesn’t help that Chris Kreider is out indefinitely with an injury.
New York has gotten strong goaltending this season from Henrik Lundqvist but there are a lot of underlying issues with the Rangers that should cause them to worry. New York is getting outshot by about two shots per game and the Rangers have no real superstar scorers. Lundqvist is 35 years old and it is hard to see him maintaining a .930 save percentage all season. New York is 7-10 on the road this season with eight games going over and nine going under. They are scoring 3 goals per game and giving up 2.7 per contest.
The Penguins are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions but they haven’t played up to par yet this season. The good news for Pittsburgh is that they have a lot of talented players led by Sidney Crosby, one of the top goaltenders in the league in Matt Murray and a good coach in Mike Sullivan. They have also gotten strong play this season from Phil Kessel who was an all-star snub. Kessel is on pace for 33 goals and 88 points this season.
Pittsburgh was 13-8 at home before Saturday’s game against Detroit, with 11 games going over, 9 going under, with one push. They are scoring 2.8 goals per game and giving up 3.1 per contest.
Special Teams
The Rangers are 17th on the power play at just over 18%, while they are 6th in penalty killing at almost 84%. The Penguins have the best power play in the league at almost 27% and they are 11th in penalty killing at just over 82%. They are, however, the NHL’s best penalty killing team since Thanksgiving at 91.9%.
Key Stat
The Penguins have won 7 of the last 10 meetings in this series, with seven of the last eight going over the total. It has strangely enough been a bit of a road team series, as the Rangers have won six of the last ten in Pittsburgh with the last six going over.
Free NHL Picks
The edge in travel is with the Penguins, as they get to stay home after playing on Saturday, while the Rangers have to travel. Pittsburgh has won their last three playing with no rest, after losing seven straight in that situation. I know the series trends favor the Rangers but I just think New York is going to regress in the second half of the season and that Pittsburgh will start to soar. I will lay the price and take the Penguins. I also can’t ignore the strong trends on the total, so I will take the game over the total.
NHL Odds: Penguins 5, Rangers 2
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