NHL Hockey Betting – New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders
by Mike Rose
Tuesday night will feature a classic haves vs. have-nots game when the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers (10-3-1) host the currently cellar dwelling, cross-town rival New York Islanders (3-7-1). The Rangers are off to a great start this sports betting season and have won four of their last five to solidify their current place atop the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, the Islanders won just their third game of the season last night, a 4-3 OT win against Columbus, but are currently last in the East with just seven points through 11 games.
The Rangers have gotten it done through an opportunistic offense and a stingy defense this season. RW Nikolai Zherdev has been very impressive for Rangers bettors thus far, accumulating five goals and seven assists for 12 points while maintaining a stellar +/- of 9 after 14 games. C Brandon Dubinsky has also been solid on the year with four goals and eight assists for a total of 12 points.
Gamblers who wager on NHL games to go ‘under’ the sports betting ‘total’ have noticed that Rangers home games have seen the under cash four of seven times this season. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been a large reason for their success, with a 1.99 GAA and a .928 save percentage in 11 games to date. Lundqvist has also been a godsend for Rangers moneyline bettors with his 8-2-1 record against the NHL betting line.
Last evening, the Islanders took a 3-0 lead heading into the third period and almost turned it into a loss against the Blue Jackets before holding on for a 4-3 OT win to the relief of Islanders fans and gamblers. The loss snapped a six game losing streak against the NHL betting line thanks to D Chris Campoli’s first two goals of the season, which included the overtime winner. Veteran C Doug Weight is currently the team’s leading scorer with 10 points (2 G, 8 A) in 11 games.
Without high-priced goaltender Rick DiPietro, the Islanders have struggled to stop opposing offenses and have allowed at least two goals in every game this season. In DiPietro’s wake, G Joey MacDonald has struggled with a GAA of over 3.3 per game and a save percentage of .893. The Islanders defensive struggles have resulted in a gold mine for bettors who bet on pro hockey games to go over the ‘total’ as it’s cashed in eight of their 11 games per the closing NHL wagering odds.
Current NHL betting trends for tonight’s game include the Islanders being 3-9 in their last 12 road games, the Rangers are 45-22 in their last 67 home games, and the ‘over’ has cashed in six of the last eight games between these division rivals.
NHL lines currently have the Rangers installed as monstrous -320 moneyline favorites in this game with a ‘total’ of 5.5 goals shaded towards the under at -135 odds.
No matter if you want to place a sports betting wager on the side or ‘total’ for tonight’s game, sportsbettors all agree that the best place for online sports betting is BetUS Sportsbook. BetUS.com offers up lines and totals for every NHL game and is the only place you need to play for the remainder of the 2008-09 NHL season.
