Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, and the St. Louis Blues will face off against Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden for an East-West tilt. The match gets underway at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, March 29, and you’ll be able to watch the game live on MSG Network.
St. Louis Blues at New York Rangers Odds
The Blues (-225) are currently favored over the Rangers (+185) and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. The line for betting that total stands at -125 for the over and +105 for the under.
St. Louis is 41-35 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 1.7 units this year. 40 of its outings have gone under the total, while 31 have gone over and just five have pushed. This 2018-19 Blues team is 20-18 SU on the road.
St. Louis has converted on 20.5 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, it has the ninth-strongest penalty kill in the league, and it’s successfully killed off 81.7 percent of its penalties..
With a .904 save percentage and 24.9 saves per game, Jake Allen (18-26-7) has been the primary option in goal for St. Louis this year. If head coach Craig Berube chooses to rest him, however, the team may roll with Jordan Binnington (21-7-1), who has a .930 save percentage and 1.81 goals against average this year.
On the other side of the ice, New York is 29-47 straight up (SU) and has lost 8.3 units for moneyline bettors thus far. Through 76 regular season outings, 37 of its games have gone over the total, while 35 have gone under and just four have pushed. It’s 17-21 SU at home this season.
The Rangers have converted on just 19.7 percent of their power play chances this season, a figure that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 29th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 77.5 percent of all penalties.
Henrik Lundqvist (29.5 saves per game) has been the top netminder in goal for the Rangers. Lundqvist has 18 wins, 32 losses, and 10 OT losses to his name and has recorded a pedestrian 3.05 goals against average and a poor .907 save percentage this season.
St. Louis Blues vs. New York Rangers Free Picks
Free Pick: SU Winner – Rangers, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- 41.4 percent of New York’s wins have come by two or more goals (the team is 12-24 overall in such games) while 68.3 percent of St. Louis’ wins have come by two goals or more (28-19 overall in such games).
- Power plays and penalty kills may have a critical role tonight. The Blues are 21-18 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 30-23 in games where they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Rangers are 9-11 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 18-27 when their penalty minutes are in the single digits.
- New York is 6-4 in games decided by a shootout this season while St. Louis is 1-2 in shootouts.
- For both of these teams, the over has hit in three of their last five matchups.
- St. Louis skaters have averaged 10.4 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 7.5 giveaways per game (ranked fourth overall).
- New York has averaged 14.6 giveaways over its last five home games, a rise over its season average of 12.7 giveaways per game (ranked 29th in the NHL).
- The Rangers this season have registered the sixth-most hits in the NHL (26.0 per game).
