Subscribe
Follow Us
Game three of the Eastern Conference Final kicks off today as the Tampa Bay Lightning will host the New York Rangers. The Rangers won both games one and two in their own building and are now looking to keep the momentum rolling with another win tonight. The Lightning have found themselves in a must-win situation as they're losing the series 2-0, but who will come out on top tonight? It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Rangers-Lightning prediction and pick.
Here are the Rangers-Lightning NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Rangers-Lightning Odds
New York Rangers: +1.5 (-184) (+150 ML)
Tampa Bay Lightning: -1.5 (+152) (-182 ML)
Over: 5.5 (+104)
Under: 5.5 (-128)
*Watch NHL Games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)
Why The Rangers Can Cover The Spread/Win
The New York Rangers have surprised quite a few hockey fans in this matchup after going up 2-0 on the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champions. The Rangers typically play a very slow-paced and methodical type of game, only taking the open shots, but in this series, they seem way more aggressive and have found themselves just putting pucks on the net rather than worrying about it being a perfect shot or not.
Article Continues Below
Of course, the Rangers will always rely on their goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, who's been playing great ever since he was pulled out of the games against the Penguins in the first round. It's a matchup of goalies, and so far, Shesterkin has the upper hand. The Rangers will look to keep up their defensive plays in this series and stop the Lightning from creating any scoring chances.
Why The Lightning Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Tampa Bay Lightning are down 2-0 in the series, but no need to panic, they're still a very dangerous team, especially on home ice, which is where they are for the next two games. They had a lot of time between the last series and this one, and it's starting to show their rust. But I think if the last game had any implication, the Bolts are ready to win some games. They couldn't get a lot of stuff going in the last game, opportunity-wise, but they showed promise for what's to come. That was also the first time the Lightning lost back-to-back games in the playoffs in three years.
Superstar goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is still the best goaltender in the league, but his biggest competition is right across the rink from him. Vasilevskiy hasn't been great in this series, allowing some pretty soft goals for his standards, but a lot of it falls on their defensive play. If they can clean up their play in the back end, Vasilevskiy will start to thrive once again.
Final Rangers-Lightning Prediction & Pick
I'll be the first to admit that I never liked the Rangers' chances in this series, they're a slow-paced team going up against a high-powered offense in the Lightning. With that said, I think this is the moment that the Bolts come back and not only win this game but tie up the series in game four too. If the Bolts can play defense as good as the Rangers have been playing defense lately, it's going to be a great series. With that said, give me the under tonight. It's not the best odds, and I think the Lightning are going to win, but as long as Vasilevskiy can get going and their defense can remain in tact, nobody is scoring today.
Final Rangers-Lightning Prediction and Pick: Under 5.5 (-128)
