Golden Knights challenge Rangers and help push game to over in goals thanks to help from Jonathan Marchessault
A marquee matchup between two of the league’s best as the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights travel to the Big Apple to take on the Rangers. It’ll be their sixth meeting at Madison Square Garden where Vegas had walked away victorious in three of the five matchups. It’ll be much more challenging this time around with the Rangers having won 8 of their last 12 home games and having a 15-6-0 home record this season. The Golden Knights also aren’t the powerhouse they once were last season as they’ve become very home ice dependent with a 18-5-2 home record that is far ahead of their 10-9-4 road record, which is identical to the record of the Penguins and Habs.
The Rangers will look to take advantage and get an important win for the Metro division race with the Hurricanes starting to catch up. The Golden Knights will look to prove they are still one of the league’s best teams despite their road record and could make this game difficult as they enter the game on a five game point streak. It should be the most exciting matchup on the night and if you want to get in on the action, here is our best bets for tonight’s game that should help you end your week on the right note.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Please gamble responsibly.
Pick: Over 5.5 goals (-135)
The Rangers strength is their frontend with a top ten home offense, averaging 3.48 goals per game and the third-best home powerplay operating at a hair under 30 per cent. They’ve been lethal at home but their backend has started to slip with a 3.20 goals against per games average over their last ten home games.
Expected starter Igor Shesterkin has started to dip in his last three starts allowing nine goals and seeing a decrease in his save percentage falling to just .862 during that span. He’s had some hardships this season with blowup starts happening more often than he would like. Since the start of the season, he’s given up four or more goals in 11 of his 31 starts this season. The Golden Knights should give him a good run as they are just outside the top 12 in road offense with a 3.10 goals per game average over their last ten games and could possibly get two or three off him and the Rangers should respond which makes this over seem very possible.
Pick: Jonathan Marchessault anytime goal (+165)
Vegas is battling a slew of injuries on offense with forwards Jack Eichel, William Karlsson and William Carrier all listed on the injured reserve. They needed players to step up and since Eichel’s injury, Marchessault has been on fire leading the team in goals with five and passing for four assists and nine points over their last seven games. He has been a staple of the Golden Knights fierce offense since joining the league and is still even at age 33. He should help them get on the board as he’s found the back of the net four times in his last four games versus the Rangers.