Rangers Chasing Much-Needed Win
The Monday night matchup in the Big Apple features two teams in dire need of some positive results. Since Nov. 23, the Blues have the worst record in the NHL (1-5-0) and the Rangers are 1-4-1. Neither would be the playoffs if they started today.
It doesn’t help that St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou is questionable while defensemen Scott Perunovich and Marco Sandella are out. For the Rangers, center Filip Chytil is questionable.
These are two of the worst teams against the NHL betting lines. St. Louis is 9-14 against the spread and the Rangers are 8-16.
According to the NHL playoff odds, the Rangers (+2000) are tied for 10th in the odds to win the Stanley Cup. The Blues are tied at 18th at +5000.
Let’s check the latest NHL odds, stats, injury reports, and NHL lines for Blues vs Rangers. We’ve plenty of NHL betting odds for you to consider.
Roller-Coaster Season Continues
There is probably not a more inconsistent team in the NHL than the St. Louis Blues.
After winning the first three games of the season, St. Louis dropped eight games in a row – all by multiple goals – before winning seven straight games. The only thing preventing the Blues from taking a six-game losing streak into the matchup with the Rangers was a three-goal rally in an overtime win over Florida.
The defensive numbers during these last six games are frightening. Not only is St. Louis last in the NHL with an average of 5.17 goals allowed during that stretch, but in a league where a 75-80% success rate on the penalty kill is serviceable, the Blues are at 54% in the last six games.
St. Louis has been outscored 31-16 in the last six games and 10-4 in the first period as the Blues have scored the first goal just once during those contests.
The Las Vegas odds went over in five of St. Louis’ last six games as well as in the last five road games.
Scoop on Free Play from the Locker Room
Power Outage in New York
With Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and defenseman Adam Fox among the players the Rangers can throw out on the ice, scoring on the power play shouldn’t be an issue.
However, the Rangers have scored on just two of their last 21 power plays. The two goals came when New York was down by three goals to Chicago and by two against New Jersey. The Rangers have been outscored 7-2 with the man advantage over the last seven games.
The Rangers were fourth in the NHL by scoring on 25.2% of their power-play opportunities a season ago. That number has dropped to 20.5%. Kreider had 26 power-play goals in 81 games a season ago. He has four in the first 26 contests this season.
“Something needs to change. There needs to be more of a pushback from ourselves within.”
More: https://t.co/NrnTVK8Cc7
Fox: https://t.co/dIdTrfQAD4
Coach Gallant: https://t.co/FIDIBh1R3u pic.twitter.com/pw3PfI2Zcp— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 4, 2022
The NHL betting lines total has gone under in six of the Rangers’ last nine games against Western Conference teams.
Blues vs Rangers Game Injuries
Blues vs Rangers Blues Head-to-Head
The Blues have won three of the last four games against the Rangers.
The teams split the two meetings played eight days apart a season ago with both teams winning on home ice. Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and two assists against the Rangers while Robert Thomas and Ivan Barbashev each had two goals. Fox had five assists and Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists for the Rangers against the Blues.
Four of the last five games in the series went over the total.
Blues vs Rangers Game Information
- Game: Blues (11-13-0) vs Rangers (11-10-5)
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City
- Day/Time: Monday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. ET
- Blues vs Rangers Live stream: NHL.TV
Blues vs Rangers Betting Lines
Blues vs Rangers Picks & Prediction
The Rangers are coming off back-to-back losses to Ottawa and Chicago, two of the worst teams in the NHL. At one point in the loss to Chicago, defenseman and team captain Jacob Trouba screamed at his teammates as he left the ice late in the period, imploring the team to get going. This is a game that will tell quite about the makeup of his team with a struggling St. Louis coming to Madison Square Garden.
St. Louis has covered in just five of 13 road games while the Rangers are 3-11 against the spread at home.
The Rangers are scoring .76 more goals while giving up .71 fewer goals on the road than they are at home. For the Rangers to become a factor in the Eastern Conference race, they will need to start playing better at Madison Square Garden.
After going 27-10-4 at home last season, the Rangers are just 4–6-4 at MSG this season. Even though both teams are dealing with injuries to key scorers, this feels like a game that could go over the six-goal total as well as a contest likely to come down to the bitter end.
The St. Louis Blues are listed at +145 in our Vegas NHL lines. This means that if you wager $100 on the Blues, you have a chance to win $145. The New York Rangers are -165, offering a chance to win $61 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives St. Louis a 40.82% chance to win, with New York at 62.26%.
Blues vs Rangers Trends
Blues vs Rangers Edge
Blues vs Rangers Results
Blues vs Rangers Game Summary
