Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers Prediction, NHL Odds
New York is looking to avoid a two-game sweep by Boston, as these teams face off at Madison Square Garden for the second time this week, on Friday. The Bruins are fresh off a 3-2 overtime win over the Rangers on Wednesday.
Boston is a -168 favourite on the NHL odds with a total of 5.5.
Bruins vs. Rangers Betting Analysis
The Bruins have won five straight games against New York and Sports Interaction bettors have noticed. Boston is getting almost all of the love, with 77 per cent of action siding with the B’s, while 53 per cent of bettors are taking the Over.
Boston only has one regulation loss on the year, but that doesn’t mean they’re covering the spread well. The Bruins are 3-7 against the spread and have only covered once outside of TD Garden. Boston has hit the Over five times this year, twice at home and three times on the road.
The Rangers are an interesting team to bet on. They only have four wins, but they play so many close games, they’re actually 8-4 ATS. New York’s lack of offence has made them an Under team, however. The Rangers have only hit the Over twice in eight homes games and three times overall.
Boston Bruins
Everyone’s favourite NHL pest (at least in Boston), Brad Marchand, scored 36 seconds into overtime for the win on Wednesday. Anders Bjork and Chris Wagner picked up the other markers for the Bruins. Marchand has been on a tear for the Eastern Division leading Bruins. With eight goals and eight assists, Marchand’s 16 points in 12 games ties him for the team lead in points with Patrice Bergeron (6G, 10A). Charlie McAvoy, who assisted on the OT winner, has had a solid year on the blue line. McAvoy is playing at nearly a point-per-game pace with 11 points (1G, 10A) in 12 games. Tuukka Rask made 33 saves in Wednesday’s win. Let’s just pretend he didn’t try to skate off for the extra attacker in the last minute even though the game was tied. Everybody makes mistakes.
One of the biggest reasons for the Bruins success this season, has been their red hot special teams. Boston is the only team in the league with both a top-six power play (31.58 per cent) and penalty kill (88.37 per cent). Boston also gives up the least amount of shots per game in the NHL (24.42), while ranking No. 7 in offensive shots per game (31.92). The problem that teams have had with the Bruins, is you can try to shut down their offence or their defence, but you can’t shut down both. This team is rolling through the Eastern Division.
New York Rangers
New York salvaged a point in an overtime loss to the Bruins on Wednesday, but they have dropped two games in a row and are quickly falling out of the playoff picture. Kevin Rooney and Julien Gauthier each had a goal; it was Gauthier’s first career marker. Alexandar Georgiev made 29 stops on 32 shots in his first start since the infamous altercation with Tony DeAngelo. Each of the Rangers’ last 10 games have been decided by less than three goals and seven have been decided by a single goal. New York, however, is just 1-3-3 in one goal games this season.
In a condensed 56 game season, the Rangers are quickly running out of time to turn things around. They’re only one point ahead of the Devils and Sabres for last place in the division, but they have played three more games than New Jersey and two more than Buffalo. After ranking fifth in goals per game last season, New York has dropped to 25th.
Outside of Artemi Panarin, the Rangers haven’t been getting much offence. Panarin has 15 points (5G, 10A) in 12 games. The 2019 second overall pick, Kaapo Kakko, still hasn’t played to his potential, adding two goals and an assist in 11 games. Maybe even more concerning is 2020 first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere, who has looked lost and has managed just a single goal in 12 games. With the defence only contributing three goals and a power play ranked 24th in the league, this Rangers team needs to start putting the puck in the net and fast.
BOS
NYR