New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction and Betting Odds 3/25/22

New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Preview

WagerTalk NHL handicapper Kevin Dolan offers his New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins betting preview for Friday, March 25. The Rangers sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 85 points and the Penguins sit in second with 88 points.

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Friday, March 25	NHL Betting Notes, Courtesy of Caesars
Moneyline:	New York Rangers (+100) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (-120)
Puckline:	Rangers +1.5 (-250) / Penguins -1.5 (+200)
Total:	6 Goals (Over +105 / Under -125)
Game Time:	7:05pm ET / 4:05pm PT
Arena:	Madison Square Garden in New York, NY
TV:	NHL Network

New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Analysis

The New York Rangers will look to bounceback at home on Friday night after an ugly lopsided 7-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

The Rangers appeared in command of the game from the outset leading 2-0 after the 1st period but fell apart after that, allowing 5 goals in a little over 11 minutes to close out the 2nd period.

That follows on from a fairly lackluster month overall for the Rangers as they’ve gone 4-4 over their last eight contests in all and welcome in a Pittsburgh Penguins team on Friday who have a fantastic record in this venue, winning 11 of their last 16 H2H’s here.

The Penguins and Rangers have clashed once already this season with the Penguins coming out 1-0 victors over in Pittsburgh back on February 26th.

Metropolitan Rivalry Heats Up for Pittsburgh

With just three points separating both sides in the Metropolitan Division right now, the race for this year’s playoff seeding continues to heat up.

Pittsburgh will be eager to keep that three point advantage intact as well as they face a punishing schedule over the next few weeks, including this same Rangers team twice more, the Washington Capitals, the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche twice as well.

Rangers Look to Bounce back off Worst Loss of the Season

While the New York Rangers have allowed 7 goals already this season, it wasn’t to a team as low down the pecking order as the New Jersey Devils are or in the meltdown fashion in which it happened either on Tuesday.

Five goals in just 11 minutes pretty much sealed the Rangers fate in that one as the league’s #1 goalie Igor Shesterkin had an absolute nightmare, allowing all 5 goals in that game and posting a .792 SV% also.

New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction

Both Jarry and Shesterkin are expected in nets tonight for either team and you’d have to imagine a bounceback in performance is imminent from the Russian tonight.

Similarly, Tristan Jarry has been excellent this season also posting a +21.20 GSAA average, 6th best in the league, and is coming off back to back games in which he posted a .958 SV% on average also.

Both the Penguins and the Rangers rank top five in scoring defense this season averaging 2.55 and 2.58 goals per game respectively against opponents and the Rangers rank 28th in the league this year on overall scoring chances generated.

Taking Pittsburgh on the moneyline and the Under 6 goals both look like value in this one and that’s the way we’re going to look on Friday.

Interested in placing a bet on Friday night’s New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins showdown? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.

Hockey Betting 101 | What is the Puckline?

The puckline is hockey’s version of the point spread. When betting on the puckline, the favorite is -1.5 goals on the spread, with the underdog at +1.5 goals. Betting on the favorite requires your team to win its game by two or more goals. Conversely, betting on the underdog at +1.5 means that your team can either win the game or lose by one goal, and your ticket will still cash.

Since the majority of hockey betting is built around the moneyline, casual bettors might be turned off by laying larger prices with the top teams in the league. Instead of laying -200 or -250 on a strong favorite, a more attractive option might be laying -1.5 goals at a more reasonable price point. Conversely, it can be hard to pull the trigger on a +200 underdog that’s expected to lose their game over 60% of the time. Well, it gets a little easier to put your money on them if you’re getting a +1.5 goal head start.

WagerTalk Live Odds Screen

WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the NHL moneylines, puck lines and betting percentages for all of Friday’s NHL games, including this New York Rangers vs Pittsburgh Penguins showdown, from your desktop or phone.

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Meet the Author

‘The sharpest sports mind in Ireland’ is how one prominent newspaper dubbed Kevin Dolan after he became the first foreigner ever to win the World Series of Handicapping tournament back in 2015. “The Irishman” made his start wagering on GAA, football, soccer and boxing, all to immense success. Since becoming a professional bettor, he has since lit up the sports betting scene in the U.S. and abroad, winning two handicapping awards and writing a best-selling book on sports handicapping named ‘The Complete Guide to Sports Betting’.

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