Will Rangers Goaltending Stymie Knights’ Sluggish Offense?
The Vegas Golden Knights enter Friday’s game with the New York Rangers having lost two straight and five of six. Their offense has gone cold as they’ve scored just eight goals in those five losses.
They’re on the road in New York against a Rangers team that’s seventh in goals allowed per game. Are the Rangers the best play versus the NHL betting odds in this spot or will the Golden Knights do enough offensively to get the job done?
Let’s check the latest NHL news, stats, injury reports, and NHL lines for Golden Knights vs Rangers. We’ve got plenty of NHL picks for you to consider.
Golden Knights Experiencing Offensive, Goaltending Decline
Vegas has been reliant upon its defense and goaltending for most of the season but lately one of the Knights’r best players has dipped in production. Starting goaltender Logan Thompson is currently having his worst month.
In fact, his numbers have declined for each month since October. His GAA has gone from 1.69 to 2.88, 2.93, and it’s currently 3.03 for his seven starts in January.
The same goes for his save percentage, which was .943 in October, then fell to .909, then again to .905, and is currently at .900. Simply put, Thompson has been slowly struggling more and more.
Combined with the slowing offensive output, it’s easy to understand why the Golden Knights are in a funk. It makes it tough to invest in them if you bet online – especially since they’ve dropped four of five on the road.
Young Rangers Searching for Consistency
The talent is certainly there for New York but the Rangers have been unable to play consistently up to this point. The hope was that after their playoff run last season that they’d continue to ascend but they haven’t. If the playoffs started today, they’d be the No. 6 seed.
While they are 6-2-2 in their last 10, they haven’t won back-to-back games since January 12, flipping back and forth between wins and losses.
Offensively, you have a strong trio of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Adam Fox. Panarin has 50 points, Zibanejad has 49, and Fox has 48. All three have been key to winning games.
Even so, they have scored the seventh-fewest goals in the East, which isn’t good enough.
Goaltending is their bread and butter as Igor Shesterkin remains one of the best in the game at his position. He’s tied for the fourth-best record amongst goalies at 21-8-7, the ninth-best GAA at 2.46, and tied for 10th in save percentage at .918.
Golden Knights vs Rangers Game Injuries
Golden Knights vs Rangers Head-to-Head
The Golden Knights have met the Rangers once this season, with New York, winning 5-1.
Golden Knights vs Rangers Information
- Game: Golden Knights (29-17-3) Rangers (26-14-8)
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
- Day/Time: Friday, Jan 27, 7 p.m. ET
- Golden Knights vs Rangers Live stream: NHL.TV
Golden Knights vs Rangers Betting Lines
Golden Knights vs Rangers Picks and Prediction
It’s hard to take either of these teams with your NHL picks as the offenses are not doing enough these days.
Bettors could lean to the Rangers here given that the Golden Knights are in a funk, but keep in mind that the Rangers are better on the road than at home. They’re 14-5-4 away compared to 12-9-4 at home.
Under looks to be the best bet in the sportsbook as we should get somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-1 or 3-2 Rangers win.
New York is listed at -155 in our Vegas NHL lines. This means that if you wager $100 on the Rangers, you have a chance to win $65. Vegas is +135, offering a chance to win $135 on a $100 wager. The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Rangers a 60.78% chance to win, with the Golden Knights at 42.55%.
Golden Knights vs Rangers Trends
Golden Knights vs Rangers Edge
Golden Knights vs Rangers Results
Golden Knights vs Rangers Game Summary
