Bridgestone Arena is playing host an East-West clash as the Nashville Predators square off against the visiting New York Rangers. It’s the last time that these two clubs will go at it in the regular season. This one gets started at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 3 and it will be televised live on MSG Network.
New York Rangers at Nashville Predators Odds
New York (+160) is playing the role of underdog to Nashville (-180), and the oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals (-110 for the over, -110 for the under).
Nashville is 30-19 straight up (SU) and has earned 7.2 units for moneyline bettors this season. That winning percentage, ranked third in the NHL so far this season, is an improvement compared to what the team did during last years regular season (41-41). Of its 49 games this season, 23 have gone under the total, while 23 have gone over and none have pushed. This year, the team is 17-8 SU at home.
The Predators enter the matchup with the third-best power-play unit in the NHL, as they’ve scored on 24.4 percent of their extra-man advantages this year. On the other hand, their penalty kill is ranked eighth overall, and they’ve successfully killed off 83.1 percent of all penalties.
As a collective unit, the Predators have been penalized 4.7 times per game overall this season, and 2.4 per game over their last five games at home. The team has had to kill penalties for just 6.1 minutes per game over their last 10 matchups, overall.
Averaging 28.9 saves per game with a .928 save percentage, Pekka Rinne (25 wins, 11 losses, and three OT losses) has been the primary goalkeeper for Nashville this year. If Nashville chooses to give him a breather, however, the team might roll with Juuse Saros (5-9-9 record, .927 save percentage, 2.33 goals against average).
P.K. Subban and Filip Forsberg will both look to continue their strong seasons for the Predators. Subban (38 points) is up to 12 goals and 26 assists and has recorded two or more points on nine different occasions this year. Forsberg has 16 goals and 20 assists to his name and has notched a point in 25 contests.
Over on the other bench, New York is 25-26 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.7 units for bettors taking the moneyline this year. A total of 28 of its games have gone over the total, while 21 have gone under and just two have pushed. The Rangers are 8-14 SU as a road team this season.
The Rangers have converted on 19.7 percent of their power play opportunities this year, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 14th overall and it’s successfully killed off 81.8 percent of all opponent power plays.
New York’s players have been whistled for penalties only 3.5 times per game this season, and 2.8 per game over their past five contests. The team has been forced to kill penalties just 7.4 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Henrik Lundqvist (.919 save percentage and 2.69 goals against average) has been the primary option in goal for New York. Lundqvist is averaging 28.4 saves per game and has 21 wins, 22 losses, and four OT losses to his credit.
Mats Zuccarello (eight goals, 29 assists) has been one of the top offensive facilitators for the visiting Rangers.
New York Rangers vs. Nashville Predators Betting Predictions
Pick: SU Winner – Rangers, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- Over New York’s last ten games, seven of them have been decided by two or more goals (the team is 1-6 in those games).
- Power plays and penalty kills may prove to be extremely important tonight. The Rangers are 10-11 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 17-15 in games where they’re in the penalty box for fewer than 10 total minutes. The Predators are 13-3 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 16-8 in games where they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- Nashville is 4-4 in games decided by a shootout this season while New York is 3-4 in shootouts.
- The total has gone under in three of Nashville’s last five games.
- Nashville has averaged 11.0 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 9.1 giveaways per game (ranked 15th in the league).
- New York is ranked 32nd this season with 13.1 giveaways per game. That figure has trended down recently, however, as the teams averaged 8.4 giveaways over its last 10 games and 6.6 giveaways over its last five.
