Sports Betting Overview
Any team that uses injuries as an excuse for poor play needs to look at the Pittsburgh Penguins over the last two seasons. Last season, the Penguins lost superstar Sidney Crosby in January for the rest of the season. But the team plodded forward and was still one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Then the Penguins lost superstar Evgeni Malkin a month before the playoffs last season and still wound up competing well in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now the Penguins face the very real possibility that it will have to move forward without Crosby permanently. But yet the Penguins keep winning and keep playing great hockey.
The changes that the New York Rangers made in the off-season, especially the addition of Brad Richards, look like they are paying off. The pay per head sportsbook experts were not sure what to expect from the Rangers when the season started because it can sometimes take new players time to gel with existing players. But the chemistry on this Rangers’ team is so deep that the new players fit right in and the existing players kept right on going. It is starting to look like the New York Rangers made the best moves in the off-season free agency market.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Despite its current two-game losing streak, the Penguins remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The bookie software shows that the Penguins have 46 points and trail the conference leading Rangers by only six points. Every game the Penguins play against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers this season is extremely important to the Penguins’ chances of making the playoffs. The Penguins are a solid balance of goal scoring and solid defense, but the most notable part of the Penguins’ game is their tenacity. The Penguins score goals by never giving up on a play and grinding until the puck is in the net. That is what will make this a great hockey game.
New York Rangers
Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is having another banner season as the Rangers have only given up 79 goals in 37 games played. A 5 dimes review of the Rangers’ season last year compared to this year is that the team is scoring goals this season. The games that the Rangers were losing 1-0 and 2-1 last year have turned into wins because of the additional scoring punch the team has. The Rangers’ consistency and goal-scoring ability will make them very dangerous in the playoffs. In this game, it will be the Rangers’ ability to play in both ends of the ice that will grab the victory.
The Bottom Line
NHL fans in Pittsburgh can only wonder how much better the Penguins would be if Sidney Crosby could play. But it looks like the Penguins will have to go at it without the team captain once again this season. In this game, the lack of Crosby’s scoring threat will be the difference in the game.
Pick: New York Rangers
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.