The New York Rangers visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday in a game that can be seen on NBCSN. These teams are battling for second place in the Metropolitan Division along with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers have surged lately to get within striking distance of both Columbus and Pittsburgh while the Blue Jackets have treaded water in recent weeks. These teams have played three high scoring games this season with Columbus winning two of the three.
This war on the ice will go down Monday, February 13, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Nationwide Arena. 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 Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
This is the first of a two-game road trip for the Rangers and they will have had one day off to rest as they were home against Colorado on Saturday. The Rangers have been excellent on the road this season, going 18-7 with 14 going over the total, 10 going under with one push.
The Blue Jackets are in the midst of a 7-game homestand. They will have had one day off to prepare for this game as they were home against Detroit on Saturday. The Blue Jackets were 18-7 in their first 25 home games with 10 going over the total and 15 going under.
Columbus has not been consistent since their 16-game winning streak ended in early January. Head coach John Tortorella said that his team needs to start playing better and be more consistent at home. “This is a huge part of our schedule, because we need to establish our rink as a tough place to play,” he said. The Blue Jackets were just 7-8-1 since their long winning streak ended. “You win one, you lose a couple, that’s where our record is,” Tortorella said. “You got to be really careful. There are no easy games in this league.”
Special Teams
The Rangers are 10th in the league on the power play at 21.2%. They are scoring 3.4 goals per game which is 2nd in the league. They are 11th in penalty killing at 82.5% and they are 11th in goals against at 2.6 per contest.
New York finally has all of their players healthy which has made it much easier for head coach Alain Vigneault to set his lines. The Rangers have not had everyone healthy on their four lines since early in the season when the team went 13-4.
Columbus has the top power play in the league at 24%. The Blue Jackets are scoring 3.3 goals per game which is 5th in the NHL. They are just 14th in penalty killing at 81.8%. They are giving up 2.5 goals per game which is 5th in the league.
Goalie Report
The Rangers seem to have Henrik Lundqvist back on track as he is 24-14 with a 2.69 goals against average. Backup Antti Raanta is 10-5 with a 2.34 goals against average.
The Blue Jackets play Sergei Bobrovsky almost every game as he is 29-13 with a 2.18 goals against average. The backup is Joonas Korpisalo who is 3-1 with a 3.56 goals against average.
Free NHL Picks
The Rangers had dominated this series until recently as Columbus has won two of the last three meetings with the last four games going over the total. New York has won 7 of the last 10 in Columbus with the last four going over.
The Rangers are a really good road team and they have played better than Columbus of late but it is still tough to go against the Blue Jackets at home. This has been a really high scoring series of late so I will avoid a side and just take the game over the total.
NHL Odds: Rangers 4, Blue Jackets 3
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