Hurricanes Atop Metropolitan Division
Carolina can join the Boston Bruins as the only team to hit the 100-point mark when the Hurricanes make their second trip to Madison Square Garden.
The New York Rangers and Hurricanes join the Bruins and the Vegas Golden Knights as the only teams with at least 20 wins both at home and on the road. The teams will meet twice in three days.
The last time the teams played, Carolina had 10 more shots on goal than the Rangers. However, New York scored six times on just 19 shots on goal and only three penalties were called in the game. The Hurricanes have killed off 90% of the opposing power plays since the NHL All-Star Game, the best mark in the NHL, so that needs to be taken into consideration for those making NHL picks.
When looking at some of the NHL news, the Hurricanes lost a key piece when Andrei Svechnikov suffered a torn ACL and he will miss the rest of the season. He is third on the team with 23 goals. Fellow Max Pacioretty is also out for the season while forward Ondrej Kase and defenseman Jake Gardiner are out indefinitely.
For the Rangers, defenseman Ryan Lindgren could be close to returning.
According to the NHL playoff odds, the Hurricanes (+800) are third and the Rangers fifth in the odds to win the Stanley Cup title.
Turning Defense into Offense
Without Svechnikov, one of the top power forwards in the NHL, things look a little different for Carolina.
After being shut out by division rival New Jersey in the first game without Svechnikov, the Hurricanes scored five times in two of the next three games.
During that stretch, Carolina’s leading scorer has been defenseman and former New York Rangers Brady Skjei with three goals and two assists. Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Shayne Gostisbehere have combined for a goal and four assists even though Carolina has scored on the power play just once during that time. More will be expected from Carolina’s defensemen as the Hurricanes try to hold off New Jersey to win the division title.
The Las Vegas odds total has gone over in four of Carolina’s last five games on the road.
Making a Statement
There hasn’t been much late-game drama the last two times the Rangers took to the ice.
After scoring all of the goals in the first two periods during a 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rangers came out the next day and scored six times in a 7-0 victory at the expense of the Nashville Predators.
The 13 goals came on just 58 shots. The shot total likely would have been higher had the Rangers not had such comfortable leads going into the third period. There was little reason to give the top offensive players as much ice time as would be the case in a closer affair.
Artemi Panarin has three goals and two assists while defenseman K’Andre Miller has two goals and four assists. He set a franchise record for a defenseman with four points in a period.
HAVE A NIGHT, BIG MILLAH. 🔑 pic.twitter.com/IPJa3IXyGK
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 20, 2023
Mika Zibanejad and Chris Krieder have scored twice each.
Recent acquisitions Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane have combined for a goal and three assists in those two games.
Four of New York’s last six games have gone under the NHL betting lines total.
Hurricanes vs Rangers Game Injuries
Hurricanes vs Rangers Head-to-Head
The Rangers won the first two meetings of the season against Carolina and outscored the Hurricanes 11-5.
New York has won six of the last seven meetings and that includes the last four with each of those last four games finishing over the total.
The last eight games have all been decided by at least two goals.
Hurricanes vs Rangers Game Information
- Game: Hurricanes (45-15-8) vs Rangers (41-19-10)
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City
- Day/Time: Tuesday, March 21, 7:00 p.m. ET
- Hurricanes vs Rangers Live stream: NHL.TV
Hurricanes vs Rangers Betting Lines
Hurricanes vs Rangers Picks and Prediction
Both the Rangers and Hurricanes could be teams to keep an eye on when the Stanley Cup playoffs come around. They could very well meet in either the first or second round.
The Hurricanes are second and Rangers seventh in the NHL in goals-against average. Carolina allows the fewest shots per game in the league with the Rangers coming in sixth so don’t be surprised to see plenty of blocked shots in this matchup.
The Rangers have picked up eight points on the Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division standings since the NHL All-Star Game. The Rangers are fifth with a points percentage of .714 during that stretch with Carolina posting an 11-6 record.
When looking at the sportsbook, this is about as close as a pick’em as you will find with the Hurricanes priced at -105 to win and the Rangers at -115. After seeing what the Rangers did in the last two games, it is hard to pick against them.
The Hurricanes are 14-20 against the NHL odds on the road with the Rangers covering in just 16 of the 36 games on home ice.
The Carolina Hurricanes are listed at -105 in our Las Vegas hockey odds. This means that if you wager $100 on the Hurricanes, you have a chance to win $95. New York is -115, offering a chance to win $87 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Carolina Hurricanes a 51.22% chance to win, with the New York Rangers at 53.49%.
Hurricanes vs Rangers Trends
Hurricanes vs Rangers Edge
Hurricanes vs Rangers Results
Hurricanes vs Rangers Game Summary
