Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers Game 2 NHL Betting Analysis, Odds & Picks
Following an exciting three-overtime game, the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers face off in Game 2 of the series. Game 1 kicked off the series with a 4-3 OT win for the Penguins, who had a franchise-high 83 shots on goal. Back in New York at Madison Square Garden, Game 2 is set for Thursday, May 5th at 7 p.m. ET.
Coming into the NHL Playoffs, the Rangers were second in the Metropolitan Division with 116 points and 52 wins. The Penguins were not far behind as they ended as the third team in the Metropolitan Division and had 103 points.
With Game 2 expected to be another great game, the Penguins look to take the 2-0 series lead while the Rangers hope they can even things up 1-1 heading into Pittsburgh for Game 3.
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Betting Analysis for Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers
Penguins Betting Stats & Analysis
The Penguins hold the series lead 1-0 following an entertaining Game 1, where they won 4-3 in the third overtime of the game. Leading shots 83-68, they ended the game with a franchise-high in playoffs.
Jake Guentzel continued his playoff dominance as he scored two goals in Game 1 and now has 28 career playoff goals and is fourth amongst league leaders since 2016-17. He finished the regular season leading the Penguins with 40 goals and tied for most points with 84.
Tying him in most team points was captain Sidney Crosby who also ended the year second in goals with 31. He notched two assists in Game 1, with both coming on the two Guentzel goals.
Goalie Casey DeSmith started Game 1 and came in with a solid regular season with a 11-6-5 record as the backup and a GAA of 2.79. He exited with a lower-body injury in the second OT in Game 1 and allowed three goals on 51 shots.
With Tristian Jarry’s status also up in the air, the Penguins could look to Louis Domingue to start Game 2, who stepped in for DeSmith following his Game 1 exit. In his time as relief, he stopped all 17 shots against him and helped his team to victory in sudden death OT.
As a team, the Penguins came into the playoffs as the 11th ranked team in goals for per game with 3.28. They also ended the regular season as the sixth-ranked team in shots per game with 34.7.
On the defensive end of the ice, the Penguins finished the regular season ranked sixth in GAA with 2.71. In the shots allowed category, they allowed the 14th least amount of shots per game with 31.4.
In the special teams’ department, the Pittsburgh Penguins were one for four on the Power Play with a PP% of 25%. In the regular season, they had a PP% of 20.1%, where they ranked 19th in the league.
Shorthanded, the Penguins allowed one goal on just one opportunity against. This was surprising for a team that was the third-ranked team in the regular season with a PK% of 84.4%.
Rangers Betting Stats & Analysis
The New York Rangers look to even things up following a tough loss in Game 1, where they gave up 2-0 and 3-2 leads and got outshot 83-68.
Team leader and third in league scoring, Chris Kreider continued his regular-season excellence with a big shorthanded goal in Game 1. His 52-goal season was a career-high for Kreider, and he looks to keep up this scoring rate going into Game 2.
Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad led the team with two points, and both came on special teams. The two got assists on Adam Fox’s first-period power play goal and followed it up with a beautiful two-on-one shorthanded goal in the 2nd period.
Coming into the playoffs, the Rangers rank 16th in goal scoring per game with an average of 3.05. They stayed consistent with that by scoring three goals in Game 1 but look to increase that in Game 2.
In the defensive zone, the Rangers were the NHL’s second-best team in goals against as they managed a GAA of 2.49. In the shots allowed category, they allowed the 11th least amount of shots per game with 30.8.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin was the most impressive Ranger last night as he faced 83 shots and stopped 79 of them. Although he allowed four goals, he was the reason the Rangers were in the game as long as they were.
Shesterkin will be the starter for Game 2 and will look to get back to his regular-season form that earned him the number one ranking in both GAA (2.07) and SV% (.935). He earned the second star of the game with his 79 saves.
On special teams, the Rangers were the fourth-best team in the regular season on the power play with a PP% of 25.2. In Game 1, they had one power play opportunity that resulted in a goal. While shorthanded, the Rangers ranked seventh with a PK% of 82.3% and were 75% in Game 1.
Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers Betting Trends
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers met four times during the regular season, with the Rangers taking the series 3-1.
The Penguins were the moneyline favorite in three of the four games but only won one of those games.
Against the spread, the Rangers were 4-0 when facing the Penguins, with three of them as the underdog.
The over/under for the four games was set at 5.5 for all. The four meetings resulted in a 3-1 record to the Under, with the lone Over just barely hitting with a 5-1 game.
In Game 1, the Penguins won as the moneyline underdog and the over of 5.5 hit after seven total goals.
Prior to Game 1, the Rangers were 6-4-0 in their last ten regular-season games. The Pittsburgh Penguins ended their final ten regular-season games with a 5-4-1 record.
Including Game 1, the Rangers have scored 13 goals in their last five games and an average of 2.60. This average is below their regular-season goals for per game of 3.08. They have allowed 17 goals in the same five-game span for a GAA of 3.40, which is not good compared to their season GAA of 2.49.
The Penguins have scored 18 goals in their last five games and averaged 3.60 goals for per game which is a slight improvement to their season average. On the back end, Pittsburgh has allowed 17 goals for a 3.40 GAA in that same five-game span.
Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers Betting Odds
BetUS has the New York Rangers as the moneyline favorite at -140. They have the Pittsburgh Penguins moneyline at +120. The over/under is set at 5.5, favoring the over at -130. The spread is currently -1.5 (+180) Rangers and +1.5 (-220) Penguins.
Bovada has the New York Rangers as the moneyline favorite at -150. They have the Pittsburgh Penguins moneyline at +130. The over/under is also set at 5.5, favoring the over at -130. The spread is currently -1.5 (+175) Rangers and +1.5 (-210) Penguins.
MyBookie has the same odds as BetUS.
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How To Bet On: Penguins at Rangers – Betting Lines (Spread, totals, moneyline) Betting Example
With the New York Rangers being favored in this contest, if someone were to place $100 on them winning the game with the Moneyline odds of -150, they would take $66.67 in winnings. If they put $100 on the Penguins on the Moneyline with +130 odds, they would walk away with $130 in winnings.
If someone bet $100 on the spread of Rangers -1.5 (+175), they would need Rangers to win the game by two or more goals, and if they did, they would win $175. If someone bet $100 on the Penguins +1.5 (-210), they need to either win the game or lose by no more than one goal, and they would win $47.62.
If someone bet the over 5.5 goals with -130 odds, $100 would get them $76.92 in winnings, while the under with +110 odds would get them $110 in winnings.
OBS Betting Picks for Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers NHL
Following Game 1 of this Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers series, the Penguins lead 1-0 after they 4-3 won in the third overtime of the game. With Game 2 back in Madison Square Garden, the Rangers will look to give their home fans a better result than Game 1.
The Penguins goaltender status is up in the air with Tristian Jarry considered day-to-day and Casey DeSmith now possibly missing time following his Game 1 exit.
The goaltending edge will really favor the Rangers, who have one of the best goalies in the league in Igor Shesterkin, who made 79 saves in Game 1.
With the help from goal scorers Chris Kreider, Mika Zbanejad, and Artemi Panarin, the Rangers will look to add more goals than they did in Game 1.
Igor Shesterkin is looking to get back to his regular-season form; he is the reason you should back the Rangers in this game. Take the Rangers ML (-140) as they look to even things up this series.
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