The second half of the 2023-24 NHL regular season gets underway with a two-game slate Monday night, and wouldn’t you know it, both New York teams are in action.
Rangers vs. Avalanche prediction
As much press as the Rangers got for their hot start to the season, it’s taken a while for the hockey world to catch up to the fact that the Blueshirts have been the definition of mediocre for two months.
The Rangers are 12-12-2 with an even goal difference (81 goals for, 81 goals against) over their past 26 contests and have five wins in their past 13 games.
What’s more is those five victories came against Chicago, Washington, Seattle, Anaheim and Ottawa — not exactly a murderers’ row of opponents.
Igor Shesterkin’s play has come under the microscope thanks to an .899 save percentage and +0.5 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx), but the Russian netminder isn’t solely to blame for this malaise.
The Blueshirts haven’t got enough production from the middle of their lineup and their pedestrian play at five-on-five makes them reliant on their goaltenders and special teams to be the difference-makers.
That formula can, and has, worked for the Rangers, but it’s a dangerous recipe against one of the best teams in the NHL.
Despite some bumps along the way, the Avalanche have righted the ship of late to establish themselves as one of the heavyweights in the circuit.
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Nathan MacKinnon is second in the NHL in points with 84, one behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. Colorado is 11-3-1 with a +16 goal difference since the Christmas break and checked into All-Star Weekend with the fourth-best points percentage and goal difference in the league.
The Rangers are better than the 12-12-2 team that they’ve been since the beginning of December, but these odds are still giving them too much credit.
The Avs look like a good bet in this spot.
The Bet: Avalanche ML (-105, BetRivers)