It's all about spoiling the New York Rangers even for just a night for the New York Islanders, who host Igor Shesterkin and company at UBS Arena tonight. The Rangers are on a tear but are trailing the Islanders in their regular-season series, 2-1. Will the Rangers even that up? Or will the Islanders stop their two-game losing skid at the expense of their rivals? With that said, it’s a good time to check out our NHL odds series, which includes our Rangers-Islanders prediction, odds, and pick we have laid out below.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Rangers-Islanders odds:

NHL odds: Rangers-Islanders Odds

Rangers: -1.5 (+184)(-130 ML)

Islanders: +1.5 (-225) (+108 ML)

Over: 5.5 (-102)

Under: 5.5 (-120)

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Why the Rangers Could Cover the Spread 

The Rangers are surging just ahead of the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. They have gone six of seven games going into the meeting with the Islanders, with their offense and defense playing sweet music together. After losing to the Carolina Hurricanes on Apr. 12 at home, 4-2, the Rangers stitched together three wins in a row, during which they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, and the Winnipeg Jets by a combined score of 11-0. The Rangers did not exactly take down the goliaths of the NHL in that span, but the streak still shows that New York is in top form at the moment.

Over the last 13 games, Gerard Gallant’s team has dominated puck possession, churned out elite-level defense, and snuffed out power-play attacks. During that stretch, the Rangers went 10-2-1 with a 56.3 CF% on 5-on-5 situations, while also posting a 58.04 HFCF% – fourth-best in the NHL since.  That’s music to the ears for Rangers goalies, who have been doing an admirable job all season long in trying to keep their team in games in spite of mediocre offensive numbers. (The Rangers are 16th in the NHL with 3.04 goals for per game and 22nd with a 152.7 xGF). Igor Shesterkin could be in line for another start tonight for a chance to improve on his fantastic numbers.

On the season, the Russian netminder has a 36-11-4 record and leads the NHL in both goals allowed per game (2.01) and in saves percentage (.936). He is also third with six shutouts. He’s not been that sharp in Islanders games this season, having allowed six goals on 67 shots faced, but there aren’t a lot of goalies out there that any team would be more confident in starting in any scenario than Shesterkin, who also paces all goalies with at least 25 appearances in terms of goals saved above expected (34.4).

Why the Islanders Could Cover the Spread

If the Islanders are into moral victories, then they can take heart from the fact that they nearly edged out the rampaging Florida Panthers in a 3-2 overtime loss at home Tuesday night at home. While they ended up being just another victim for the Panthers, the Isles did manage to cover the puck line.

The Islanders are out of playoff contention but as shown in the Florida game, they are not going to coast in the remaining games of their schedule – especially not against divisional rivals like the Rangers, who’ve already been beaten twice in three meetings this season by the Islanders; the Isles took down the Rangers at home last March (2-1) then again earlier this April at Madison Square Garden (3-0). In both games, the Islanders were outshot but they just seem to know how to solve Shesterkin.

Center Mathew Barzal has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) this season against the Rangers, while defenseman Ryan Pulock has two (2 assists). Like the Rangers, the Islanders rely a lot on their defense, and they will have to again tonight. Semyon Varlamov gets the call to start tonight against the Rangers, and while he hasn’t been as good as Ilya Sorokin this season, it’s worth noting that he took care of business the last time the Islanders faced the Rangers. He was the goaltender for the Isles in the last meeting with the Rangers, rejecting all 27 shots for a clean night. Also note that the Islanders are 8-2 in their last 10 games as the home team.

Final Rangers-Islanders Prediction & Pick

The Rangers and the Islanders boast of supreme defenses, as they are second and third in saves percentage this season, respectively. Considering that and the fact that they are also both sub-15 teams in terms of expected goals for, I got to have to go with the Under here.

Final Rangers-Islanders Pick: Under 5.5 (-120)