The New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet in game six of their best of seven NHL playoff matchup in an Eastern Conference finals matchup from Amalie Arena on Saturday.
The New York Rangers will look to force a game seven after their 3-1 loss to the Lightning at home in game five 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 16 points with 6 goals and 10 assists and Chris Kreider also has 16 points with a team-high 10 goals this postseason. Igor Shesterkin’s gone 10-8 in the postseason with a 2.62 GAA and a .929 save percentage this postseason.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals and win the cup for the third straight year on both counts after their win in game five to head home with a 3-2 series lead. Nikita Kucherov has a team-high 22 points with 7 goals and 15 assists while Victor Hedman also has a pair of goals and 12 assists. Ondrej Palat has 14 points with 8 goals and 6 assists while Ross Colton also has 8 points and 5 goals. Steven Stamkos also has 13 points with 7 goals and 6 assists as well this postseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 11-5 record with a .927 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA this postseason.
New York is 1-5 in their last 6 road games and 3-9 in their last 12 games as an underdog while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Tampa Bay is 52-23 in their last 75 games as a favorite and 9-2 in their last 11 games overall while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall.
I get the case to be made for the Lightning to be favored at home, but once again, we’re getting supreme value with a Rangers team that’s had tehir backs up against the wall before already this postseason and is no stranger to adversity. The Lightning should be slight favorites at home, but this line’s a little much for me and I think with their season hanging in the balance, New York comes to play and gets the win here.