Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers Game 2 Prediction, Playoff Odds
New York is a short favourite on the NHL odds.
Penguins vs. Rangers NHL Playoff Betting Odds
Pittsburgh took Game 1 at Madison Square Garden 4-3 in triple overtime on Tuesday – we probably don’t need to remind now that there are no shootouts in the playoffs.
On the updated series line, the Pens are -159 (were -116) and the Rangers +141 (were -104). On the series leader after Game 3 special, Pittsburgh is -345 and New York +262. The favoured series result is now Penguins in six at +360 (was +425), followed by in five at +425. A Pittsburgh sweep is +600, cheaper than New York in six at +650.
The home team is 10-4 in the past 14 meetings. The total has gone over in four of the past five in New York.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Future Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal on a deflection at 5:58 of the third overtime in the 4-3 Game 1 victory – the game’s first goal since late in the second period. Pittsburgh trailed 2-0 and 3-2 in the second. Jake Guentzel had two goals in regulation and Bryan Rust the other. Overall, the Penguins had a whopping 83 shots on goal, the second-most in NHL playoff history since tracking began in 1959-60. The record is 88 by Tampa Bay at Columbus in 2020. Sidney Crosby had two assists to reach 124 career in the playoffs, tying Sergei Fedorov for eighth place in NHL history. Pittsburgh was without No. 1 goaltender Tristan Jarry due to injury and then No. 2 Casey DeSmith left at 9:18 of the second overtime after making 48 saves in his playoff debut at age 30. Former Canuck and Flame Louis Domingue replaced DeSmith and stopped all 17 shots. He became the first netminder in league history to enter a postseason game in the second overtime period or later. As of this writing, it’s not clear if DeSmith will play Game 2, but Jarry will not. Pittsburgh is 2-6 in its past eight after a win.
New York Rangers
By all rights, the Rangers should have won Game 1. They almost never blew two-goal home leads in the regular season behind sure-fire Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. They also had the potential game-winning goal late in the third period overturned due to goalie interference – most experts believed that was the wrong call. Shesterkin stopped an amazing 79 shots, the second highest single-game total by an NHL goaltender behind 85 by the Blue Jackets’ Joonas Korpisalo during a five-OT playoff game in 2020. New York scored both on the power play and short-handed. Adam Fox, Andrew Copp and Chris Kreider had the goals and Mika Zibanejad had two assists. It was Kreider’s 53rd goal this season. The franchise record including playoffs is 62 by Adam Graves in 1993-94. The Rangers are 20-9 in their past 29 as home favourites.
PIT
NYR