Game four of this second-round matchup continues tonight as the New York Rangers host the Carolina Hurricanes. The series is now 2-1 in favor of the Hurricanes after the Rangers came up huge with a win in game three to give themselves a chance to win this series. The Hurricanes have had trouble winning on the road this postseason, can they pull off a win tonight to go up 3-1 on the Rangers? It’s time to continue our NHL odds series with a Hurricanes-Rangers prediction and pick.
Here are the Hurricanes-Rangers NHL Odds, Courtesy of FanDuel
NHL Odds: Hurricanes-Rangers Odds
Carolina Hurricanes: +1.5 (-265) (-104 ML)
New York Rangers: -1.5 (+215) (-115 ML)
Over: 5.5 (+108)
Under: 5.5 (-132)
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Why The Hurricanes Can Cover The Spread/Win
The Carolina Hurricanes have had some real issues winning on the road in this postseason as they are now 0-4 in the opposing team's barn. They came out in game three aggressive and peppered Shesterkin with shots, but couldn't find the back of the net more than once. Their offense is looking strong, finding good opportunities, but can't seem to keep the aggressiveness against the Rangers in the offensive end as much as they'd like to, but their defense bails them out on the back-end, including their goaltending in Antti Raanta.
He's been very good in the playoffs so far, meaning he'll likely get another start tonight as the Canes await Freddy Andersen to fully return from injury. The Canes want to come out of the gates guns blazing in game four as they try to take a 3-1 lead in the series to really put the pressure on the Rangers.
Why The Rangers Can Cover The Spread/Win
The New York Rangers found a little bit of an edge in game three as they scored early, forcing the Canes to play from behind. As per usual, the main story for this team is no other than goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is almost being left out to dry by the offense in front of him. Shesterkin has been standing on his head for the Rangers all season long, and now that he's found his groove in the second round, the offense needs to bail him out with some goals.
They finally got more than one goal in a game since the start of the second round but they need to just keep shooting pucks on the net and not try to be too cute. The Rangers are incredibly inconsistent for what they've done throughout the regular season and have to get a win tonight to make it a best-of-three scenario before heading back into Carolina.
Final Hurricanes-Rangers Prediction & Pick
The Rangers don't look in very good shape as they can't score to literally save their season. Sure, they won game three 3-1, but that was purely because of their defensive play (and an empty-net goal in garbage time). The Hurricanes just can't get going on the road, which is fine since they have home-ice advantage, but they would find ways to win much more often if they could pull one out on the road – which is exactly what I think they're going to do tonight.
Normally I would take the under in this situation as both teams seem to not get any offense rolling, but the odds just aren't there tonight, so for value, I'm going to take the Canes Moneyline. I think this is where they turn the narrative around and get hockey fans off their backs for not winning any road games.
Final Hurricanes-Rangers Prediction and Pick: Hurricanes (-104)
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