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The New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in game three of their best of seven Eastern Conference finals series in NHL action from the Amalie Arena on Sunday.
The New York Rangers will be looking to take a commanding 3-0 series lead after their 3-2 win over the Lightning in game two last time out. Mika Zibanejad leads the Rangers with 22 points including 9 goals and 13 assists while Adam Fox also has 22 points with 5 goals and a team-high 17 assists. Andrew Copp has 13 points split between 6 goals and 7 apples while Artemi Panarin also has 13 points with 5 goals and 8 assists and Chris Kreider has 14 points with a team-high 9 goals this postseason. Igor Shesterkin’s gone 10-5 in the postseason with a 2.60 GAA and a .929 save percentage this postseason.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to get back into the series after falling behind 2-0 after Friday’s loss. Nikita Kucherov has a team-high 17 points with 5 goals and 12 assists while Victor Hedman also has a pair of goals and 9 assists. Ondrej Palat has 9 points with 5 goals and 4 assists while Ross Colton also has 8 points and is one of five Bolts with a team-high 5 goals. Steven Stamkos also has 10 points with 5 goals and 5 assists as well this postseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy has an 8-5 record with an .921 save percentage and a 2.58 GAA this postseason.
New York is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall and 5-1 in their last 6 games after allowing 2 goals or less in the previous game while the over is 5-2 in their last 7 conference finals games. Tampa Bay is 6-2 in their last 8 games overall and 37-15 in their last 52 home games while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games overall.
I get the case to be made either way in this game, but I’m looking at the under here. We got back to a defensive style in game two and I think there’s just so much at stake for both teams in this game that you’ll see a contained and cautious effort across the board from both. I keep thinking this is a 2-1 or 3-2 game at the absolute worst, so give me the under here.