Overview
The Pittsburgh Penguins visit Madison Square Garden in New York Monday when take on division rivals the New York Rangers. The Rangers have actually won 4 of the last 5 meetings versus the Penguins but the Penguins did win 11 of the 15 meetings before that. The Penguins have also had some success in New York where they have won 12 of the last 18 meetings versus the Rangers.
Head to Head Trends
Penguins are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.
Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings
New York Rangers (-120)
The New York Rangers are 4th in the Metropolitan Division with 26 points 12 points back of the 1st place Pittsburgh Penguins. The Rangers haven’t really done a whole lot this season with 11 wins through their first 25 games in large part due to a defense squad that just hasn’t been as good as they have been over the past couple seasons. The Rangers are allowing 29.3 shots and 2.9 goals per game on defense and they are averaging 30.5 shots 2.9 goals per game on offense although their offense could be better if they could get their power play up from the 15.9% it’s currently at now.
New York Rangers Trends
Rangers are 6-1 in their last 7 vs. Metropolitan.
Rangers are 16-7 in their last 23 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
Pittsburgh Penguins (+100)
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 1st in the Metropolitan Division with 38 points which is actually tied with the Islanders but the Penguins do have a game in hand. The Penguins are one of the higher scoring teams in the league averaging 3.3 goals per game but that has dropped off of late averaging just 2.5 goals per game over their last 10. The Penguins are pretty solid on defense allowing 2.3 goals per game which was great when they were scoring over 3 goals per game and it’s still pretty good they’re just not going to be as dominant as they were in the first month of the season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Trends
Penguins are 8-2 in their last 10 road games.
Penguins are 15-5 in their last 20 overall.
Conclusion
Even though the Penguins have some injury issues right now I’m still taking them over the Rangers in this one. Even with the injuries the Penguins are still a good team so I think they get it done and beat the Rangers tonight.
Free Pick: Pittsburgh Penguins +100
