The Tampa Bay Lightning'(27-18-5) take on the New York Rangers (31-16-3) Wednesday. Puck drop at Madison Square Garden is set for 7 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s'lines around the Lightning vs. Rangers odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The last meeting between the Bolts and Rangers was down in Tampa Dec. 30, and it was the Rangers who won in dominating fashion 5-1. The home team has won 8 out of the last 10 between these teams, and only once in the last 9 meetings has the total gone Over.
New York came out of the All-Star break in thrilling fashion as they defeated Colorado in OT 2-1 Monday. LW Artemi Panarin, the team’s leading scorer, tied it up midway through the 3rd period, and LW Alexis Lafreniere found the back of the net for the game-winner less than 2 minutes into OT. G Jonathan Quick'made 32 saves, his 2nd-highest amount in a game this season.
This is the 1st game for Tampa out of the break. Entering All-Star weekend, Tampa had won 8 of its last 9 games, significantly improving its chances at making the playoff (89.1% according to Moneypuck). RW Nikita Kucherov —'who enters Wednesday tied atop the NHL with C Nathan MacKinnon in points — has the 2nd-shortest odds to win the Hart Trophy (+300 at FanDuel Sportsbook).