The New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in game four of their Eastern Conference finals NHL series in hockey action from the Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
The New York Rangers will look to rebound and push the Lightning to the brink going back to MSG after a 3-2 loss to the Lightning in game three last time out. Mika Zibanejad leads the Rangers with 24 points including 10 goals and 14 assists while Adam Fox also has 23 points with 5 goals and a team-high 18 assists. Andrew Copp has 13 points split between 6 goals and 7 apples while Artemi Panarin has 15 points with 5 goals and 10 assists and Chris Kreider also has 15 points with a team-high 10 goals this postseason. Igor Shesterkin’s gone 10-6 in the postseason with a 2.62 GAA and a .930 save percentage this postseason.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will hope to make this a best of three series after getting on the board in the series last time out. Nikita Kucherov has a team-high 20 points with 6 goals and 14 assists while Victor Hedman also has a pair of goals and 11 assists. Ondrej Palat has 10 points with 6 goals and 4 assists while Ross Colton also has 8 points and 5 goals. Steven Stamkos also has 12 points with 6 goals and 6 assists as well this postseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy has an 9-5 record with an .922 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA this postseason.
New York is 1-4 in their last 5 road games and 4-1 in their last 5 games overall while the under is 8-2 in their last 10 games as a road underdog. Tampa Bay is 124-58 in their last 182 games against the Eastern Conference and 50-23 in their last 73 games as a favorite while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 games overall.
I get the case for backing either side here as the Lightning took a ton of momentum after a late winner in game three that some would argue could be a backbreaker for the Rangers coming into this game. However, New York was the better team for a large chunk of game three and we were less than a minute away from overtime in game four. The Rangers have not budged and folded against the mighty Lightning to this point and I don’t expect them to here either. I think this is a one goal game either way once again, so give me New York +1.5.