The New York Rangers are running away with the Atlantic Division title and are also well ahead of the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference standings. Pittsburgh is hosting the Broadway Blueshirts on Tuesday night, and it seems like one of those times when taking the “over” on an over/under bet might be a lock.
At least the Pens are at home, where they sport a 17-8-2 record. They also have the services of two of the hottest players in the game right now: Evgeni Malkin, and the “Real Deal” James Neal. As of this writing, Malkin leads the NHL with 71 points in 52 games and is in the top five in the league with seven game-winning goals.
With 237 shots, the 25-year-old Russian is second in the NHL only to linemate Neal (245), who on Sunday signed a six-year contract extension worth $30 million. He’s hit the magical 30-goal mark, and shows no signs of slowing down.
If Neal thinks this is a dream season for him, imagine how the Rangers must be feeling. They haven’t lost back-to-back games in more than two months. The buzz on the Rangers centers around Rick Nash, currently the captain in Columbus, who met the Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson attended the game, which was close but ended in a predictable way: the Rangers got the win 3-2, but needed overtime to do it.
Nash could be the guy that takes the Rangers deep into the playoffs: they have pretty much everything else. Henrik Lundquist is second in the league with a 1.77 goals-against average, and leads with seven shutouts and a .941 save percentage, which should put him high on the list for Hart Trophy consideration.
They’re fine up front, too: Marian Gaborik has 27 goals, 49 points and six game-winning tallies. Team captain Ryan Callahan is having a breakout year, with 23 goals (11 on the power play) and 43 total points to go with 200 hits (third in the league). They’re so strong that Brad Richards hasn’t needed to play the prominent role expected of him. Their top four defensemen — Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Michael Del Zotto — have also been superb.
When this story was posted the NHL betting line hadn’t come out yet, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure the Rangers should be the favorites in this one despite being on the road.
UPDATE: As of Tuesday afternoon, the betting line has the Penguins favored -1.5 over the Rangers.
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