The Rangers and Islanders both have big opportunities awaiting them Thursday night.
The Blueshirts head to Tampa Bay to try to nab their fourth straight win, as they try to keep some distance between themselves and the Hurricanes atop the Metropolitan Division.
Let’s dive into a big game in Tampa.
Rangers vs. Lightning prediction
(7 p.m. ET, MSG)
The Rangers continue to roll through the second half of the season.
They have won three games in a row and are 14-2-1 with a +27 goal difference in their last 17 games.
Astonishingly, the Rangers have only allowed 32 goals in that span and most of the credit goes to their goaltenders, Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick, who have a combined .940 save percentage during this hot streak.
The Rangers deserve plenty of credit for running through February and early March, but there are still some concerning signs at five-on-five.
Only the Sharks are conceding more expected goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five since the Rangers’ surge began Jan. 27 and they’re creating just 2.24 xG/60 at five-on-five in that span.
Only St. Louis, Anaheim and San Jose rank below them in that category.
Nonetheless, the Rangers keep winning and that shouldn’t surprise anybody.
This has been the Blueshirts’ MO for the last three seasons.
The Rangers have terrific special teams, elite playmakers and an all-world goaltender.
They don’t need to tilt the ice to win. They just need to convert their chances and have their opponents miss theirs. That’s usually what happens.
In a lot of ways, the Lightning are like a poor man’s version of the Rangers this season.
The Bolts are not great at five-on-five, but they make up for it thanks to a league-leading power play, an elite core led by Nikita Kucherov and a goalie they will bet on every game in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The big difference in this matchup is that the Rangers have depth up front and on the blue line, while Tampa Bay is extremely top-heavy.
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The betting market has been skeptical of both of these teams all season and you can easily see why, but this is the kind of matchup that suits the Rangers.
They’re just a better version of the Lightning right now and should be favorites in this matchup, even on the road.
Recommendation: Rangers (-115, BetMGM)