New York Rangers Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (5/7/22) Betting Odds, Prediction, Line Combination, Starting Goalies

By Scott Steinberg | May 06, 2022, 10:19pm

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In Game Two of their first round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Artemi Panarin and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and two assists while Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves for the New York Rangers in their 5-2 victory, evening up their best of seven series at one.

Pittsburgh is +2500 to win the Stanley Cup this season; the Penguins won back-to-back titles in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Pittsburgh has won five Stanley Cup titles in franchise history. New York is +1600 to hoist the 2021-22 Stanley Cup; they last won the title in 1993-94. The Rangers last played in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2013-14, losing to the Los Angeles Kings.

New York Rangers Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Betting Odds

New York is listed at -145 to win the best out of seven first round series against Pittsburgh. Over is 5-0-2 in the Rangers last seven playoff games as a favorite. New York is 4-1 in their last five Conference Quarterfinals games. The Rangers are 3-8 in their last 11 playoff games as a favorite. The Penguins are currently +125 to win this first round series against the Rangers. Pittsburgh is 1-5 in their last six Conference Quarterfinals games. The Penguins are 13-5 in their last 18 games as a home underdog. Pittsburgh is 2-7 in their last nine games playing on one days’ rest.

New York Rangers Analysis

Chris Kreider scored 52 goals this year, third in the NHL. He finished the 2021-22 regular season with 77 points. New York’s number 20 led the NHL in power play goals with 26. He averaged 18:44 of ice time per contest and delivered 141 hits. Kreider scored the game-winning goal in Game Two vs. the Penguins, tying Mark Messier for the most (seven) in Rangers’ playoff history, per NHL.com. Artemi Panarin was New York’s leading scorer this year with 96 points (22 goals and 74 assists). Playing his third season with the Rangers, he had 37 points on the power play (five goals and 32 assists) and was tied for second on the club with five game winning goals. Panarin has 31 points in 32 career playoff games. Mika Zibanejad finished the season as the Rangers second leading scorer with 81 points (29 goals and 52 assists) and led New York in plus/minus at +30. The center in his 11^th season, scored 15 power play goals and three game winning goals. In the first two games of the postseason, he has two assists.

Adam Fox was fourth among defensemen in scoring this season with 74 points (11 goals and 63 assists). The 23-year-old is ranked third on the team in blocked shots with 128 and averaged a team leading 23:54 of ice time per game in 2021-22. Fox has a goal and an assist in the first two games of the series against the Penguins. Jacob Trouba was the team leader in blocked shots with 177 and second in hits with 207. Second on the Rangers in plus/minus at +25, he added 39 points in 2021-22. Trouba has an assist in the first two games of the postseason.

In 2021-22, Igor Shesterkin was 36-13-4 with a .935 save percentage (first in the league) and a 2.07 GAA (first in the NHL). New York’s number 31 also had six shutouts this season, third in the NHL. In two postseason games, Shesterkin has made 118 saves (.952 save percentage). Per NHL.com, he is the first goaltender since shots on goal began being tracked in 1955-56 to make 100 saves through his team’s first two playoff games. Shesterkin is +2800 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy this year.

Pittsburgh Penguins Analysis

Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby was tied for the team lead in scoring with 84 points (31 goals and 53 assists) this season. The three-time Stanley Cup winner had 30 points on the power play and led the club with nine game winning goals. The two-time Hart Trophy winner is the second player to score 70 playoff goals with the Penguins, joining Mario Lemieux who had 76. In Game Two, Crosby had an assist on Jake Guentzel’s goal for his 125th in the NHL playoffs, moving him one ahead of Sergei Fedorov for eighth on the all-time list, per NHL.com. Jake Guentzel was tied with Crosby for the team lead in scoring with 84 points; also leading the team in goals with 40. He had 22 points on the power play in 2021-22 while being a +13 on the season. The sixth-year center has scored three goals in his two playoff games this year. Bryan Rust has 58 points in 2021-22 (24 goals and 34 assists). He was a +7 while averaging 18:46 of ice time per game for the Penguins. Rust has four points (one goal and three points) in the first two games of the first round against the Rangers. Evgeni Malkin played in 41 games this year, missing the beginning of the year due to off-season knee surgery. The 2011-12 Hart Trophy winner has 42 points (20 goals and 22 assists) in his limited time on the ice this campaign. Malkin scored nine power play goals and five game winning goals in 2021-22. Malkin has two points to begin the 2021-22 postseason.

Kris Letang led the Penguins blueliners in scoring this season with 68 points (10 goals and 58 assists). The two-time Stanley Cup winner was second on the team in plus/minus at +20 while logging the most ice time per game by a Pittsburgh defenseman at 25:47. He also blocked 122 shots and had 171 hits. He has one assist in two playoff games this year. Mike Matheson had 31 points in 74 games this season. He scored five game winning goals, scoring 11 goals overall in 2021-22. He blocked 81 shots and delivered 97 hits this year.

Goalie Casey DeSmith will be out for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Pittsburgh Penguins after having core muscle surgery Friday. Playing for the injured, Tristan Jarry, who’s still recovering from a lower body injury, DeSmith allowed three goals on 51 shots in Game One. Louis Domingue made 35 saves in the Game Two loss; he will start Game Three for the Penguins.

New York Rangers Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Picks & Prediction

The Rangers scored three goals per contest during the regular season, 17^th in the NHL. Defensively New York allowed 2.5 goals per game, second overall. Under is 3-0-1 in the Rangers last four Saturday games. New York is 5-1 in their last six road games. During the regular season, Pittsburgh scored 3.3 goals per game, ranking them 11^th in the NHL. On the defensive side, the Penguins allowed 2.7 goals per contest which was fifth in the league. Under is 8-2 in Pittsburgh’s last 10 Saturday games. The Penguins are 1-4 in their last five games as an underdog. Due to the Rangers offensive depth and superb goaltending of Igor Shesterkin, I like New York to go on the road and beat the Penguins 5-2; covering the 1.5 goals with the two teams combining for over six goals.

New York Rangers Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Starting Goalies & Line Combination

Scott Steinberg

Scott has been a sports fan since he received a New York Mets jacket as a toddler. He’s been playing fantasy baseball and football for over 20 years, dating back to Frank Thomas being one of his first fantasy baseball picks. As a professional, he has covered the NFL, MLB, NCAAF, and NCAAB and is looked to as the go-to guy for fantasy sports amongst family, friends, and co-workers.