The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers meet Sunday in game 3 of the East Second Round NHL Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. The Carolina Hurricanes look for another win to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. The New York Rangers need a win here to have any real chance of winning this series.
The Carolina Hurricanes are averaging 3.11 goals per game and are scoring on 12.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Sebastian Aho leads Carolina with 4 goals, Teuvo Teravainen has 7 assists and Seth Jarvis has 23 shots on goal. Defensively, the Carolina Hurricanes are allowing 2.33 goals per game and are killing 82.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Antti Raanta has allowed 13 goal on 214 shots faced, and Pyotr Kochetkov has given up 6 goals on 60 shots.
The New York Rangers are averaging 3.22 goals per game and are scoring on 25 percent of their power play opportunities. Chris Kreider leads New York with 5 goals, Mika Zibanejad has 8 assists, and Ryan Strome has 30 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Rangers are allowing 3.67 goals per game and are killing 77.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Igor Shesterkin has allowed 28 goals on 324 shots faced, and Alexandar Georgiev has given up 2 goals on 31 shots.
The Hurricanes are 52-19 in their last 71 games as a favorite and 12-3 in their last 15 overall. The Rangers are 4-1 in their last 5 home games and 0-5 in their last 5 games as an underdog. The over is 8-3-1 in Hurricanes last 12 overall. The over is 7-2 in Rangers last 9 overall. The Hurricanes are 9-27-1 in the last 37 meetings in New York and 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
It feels like majority of the time the total is at 5.5 in these playoffs, the over cashes. The first two games of this series have been a defensive battle and low scoring, producing a combined five goals. However, the over is still a strong trend for both teams, as the over is 19-6-2 in the Canes last 27 road games and has hit in four straight home games for the Rangers. It feels like we’re due for an offensive breakthrough, especially when four of the previous eight meetings between these clubs produced at least six goals. Give me the over.