Metropolitan Division rivals meet on Tuesday night on NBCSN, as the New York Rangers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both teams have played well recently, as the Rangers have won seven of their last ten, while the Penguins have won four straight. Pittsburgh has won four of the last five meetings in this series, including 5-4 in New York earlier this season. The games between the teams in Pittsburgh have been high scoring, as the last five have gone over the total.
Don't miss the ice action from PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN.
We'll have NHL odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NHL Tuesday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Rangers have won five of their last six games and are playing as well as they have all season. They also got captain Ryan McDonagh back into the lineup after he missed four games because of an abdominal strain. He was excellent in the 5-1 win against Carolina on Friday. “Felt really good,” McDonagh said to the New York Post. “Thought I moved my feet well, got around the ice and played strong defensively. Felt like I got even stronger as the game went on, so that was good.” Head coach Alain Vigneault said that McDonagh was “a force out there.” The one concern for New York is that top center Mika Zibanejad has missed two straight games with concussion symptoms.
New York has not played nearly as well on the road as they have at home. They are 11-7 at home but just 3-5 on the road. Five of their eight road games have gone over the total. The Rangers are scoring 3.3 goals per game this season and giving up 3 per contest.
The Penguins look to have hit their stride, as they have won four straight, even without top goalie Matt Murray, who is injured. The Penguins are scoring a ton of goals of late, with 19 goals in their last four games. Sidney Crosby has gotten hot, as he has a six-game point scoring streak and a five-game goal scoring streak. If you are someone that bets during the game there is an interesting stat to consider. The Penguins are 13-2-2 when scoring first and 2-8-1 when giving up the first goal.
Pittsburgh has gotten strong play from backup goaltender Tristan Jarry but the schedule will get tougher for Jarry who picked up two easy wins against Buffalo last week. The Penguins might have to give time to Casey DeSmith, as Jarry will need some rest.
The Penguins are 9-3 at home this season, with six games going over the total, five going under, with one push. They are scoring 3 goals per game and giving up 3.2 per contest.
Special Teams
The Rangers are 8th in the league on the power play at 22%, while they are 16th in penalty killing at 16%. The Penguins are 4th in the league on the power play at just over 25%, while they are just 20th in penalty killing at just over 78%.
Key Stat
The Penguins have won 7 of the last 10 in this series, with six of the last seven going over the total. Pittsburgh has also taken six of the last ten at home in this series, with the last five going over.
Free NHL Picks
I lean toward taking the Penguins in this game simply because they are at home, but I think the better play is on the total. Both teams are scoring a lot of goals and neither has been that great on defense. And despite Jarry playing well so far, the Penguins are not as good without Murray. It also helps that the trends are heavily in favor of a high scoring game. I will go over the total in this contest.
NHL Odds: Penguins 4, Rangers 3
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