NHL FREE BETTING TIP: New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Details:

The New York Rangers are coming off their best regular season in the past couple of years as they finished fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 52-24-6 record.

This is the Rangers’ first Playoff appearance in five years after they won 25 more games than last season.

The Rangers have just two players — forwards Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider — left from the team that reached the second round in 2017. About a dozen players remain from the team that was swept 0-3 in the qualifying round by Carolina two years ago.

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished the regular season at seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 46-25-11 record. They finished the regular season winning 3 of the last 5 games.

The Penguins have the longest current streak of playoff appearances in North American sports, but have not won a series the last three years. They reached the second round in 2018 after winning the Stanley Cup the previous two years.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang lead the core of eight Penguins that are still around from the team that won its last Cup five years ago.

Key facts

• Samuel Blais, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Artemi Panarin will not play for the Rangers
• Nathan Beaulieu and Tristan Jarry will not suit up for the Penguins
• Both teams have won 5 of the last 10 head-to-head meetings with the New York Rangers winning the last three games
• Three of the last four games between these two teams have finished under 5.5 goals

Both teams are entering the Playoffs hoping for a deep run and their defense will be their main asset on that way. The Rangers have won the last three games against the Penguins and have the home court advantage which makes them favorites to advance. The Penguins’ first goalkeeper Tristan Jarry will miss Game 1 which also goes in the Rangers’ favor. Anyway, this will be a tight game with not a lot of scoring as both teams will be defensively oriented. The Rangers are the favorites to win but the safest bet is under 5.5 goals as 3 of the last 4 games between these two teams have finished under this margin. Having in mind that this is a Playoff game, the chances for that are even bigger.

Value Bet

New York Rangers to win

2.19

Bet Now