The New York Rangers will head into Pittsburgh to take on their Metropolitan Divisional rival in the Penguins tonight. These teams are just one point away from each other in the standings with Pittsburgh on top. This will be the third meeting between these teams in just over a month as the series is now tied at 1-1. It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Rangers-Penguins prediction and pick.

Click here to Bet $5, Win $150 in site credits regardless of if your bet wins or loses on March Madness (30-1 Odds)

*To claim, new users need to register, make a first-time deposit, and then simply place their first real-money wager on FanDuel Sportsbook on any March Madness game during the tournament. All winning bets will be fulfilled within 72 hours if they win.*

Here are the Rangers-Penguins NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel

NHL Odds: Rangers-Penguins Odds

New York Rangers: +1.5 (-182) (+142 ML)

Pittsburgh Penguins: -1.5 (+150) (-172 ML)

Over: 5.5 (-118)

Under: 5.5 (-104)

*Watch NHL Games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)

Why The Rangers Can Cover The Spread/Win

The New York Rangers are heading into this game on a two-game winning streak, which includes a 5-1 win against the Penguins at home on Friday. The Rangers have been playing much better defense lately, allowing very few shots on net in their recent games, and that's promising for a team that has been in the bottom half of the league in terms of defensive metrics. There's no official word on who will be starting between the pipes tonight for the Rangers, but it's a pretty safe bet that the Vezina Trophy favorite, Igor Shesterkin, will get the nod. He's been outstanding all year long, repping a .936 save percentage on the season while allowing 2.11 goals against per game through his 43 games played so far. He'll look to keep it low scoring and to keep the Penguins out of his net tonight.

Why The Penguins Can Cover The Spread/Win

After losing to the Rangers on Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins bounded back and took down the Red Wings on Sunday by a score of 11-2, the most goals scored by one team since the salary cap was introduced back in 2005. The Penguins' offense is ranked eighth in the league with 3.31 goals scored per game, but most of their success comes from their defense, which is tied for third-best in the league. Even though starting goaltender Tristan Jarry got the start on Sunday, he should be getting another one tonight as he has been killing it all season. He's currently supporting a respectable .922 save percentage while allowing 2.31 goals against per game. He'll look to get revenge on the Rangers tonight and hope that his offense can put up another 11 goals.

Final Rangers-Penguins Prediction & Pick

These teams are extremely close in the standings and are most likely going to be seeing each other in the first round of the playoffs. This should be a very good matchup, but it's another one of those that can easily swing one way or another. I like the Penguins at home here, especially coming off of a huge 11-2 win. However, both of these teams, mainly the Rangers, tend to keep games low scoring, and since both of these goaltenders are household names at this point, I expect this game to be under the total.

With that said, you know I hate taking the under, so the line right now is making me a bit nervous, so I'm going to move it up to 6 instead of 5.5 just to get that extra push value, just in case. On FanDuel Sportsbook, the alternate line for six total goals comes out to -128. Not ideal, but I'll take what I can get.

Final Rangers-Penguins Prediction and Pick: Alternate Total – Under 6 (-128)