The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers meet Thursday in Game 5 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden. Here’s a NY Rangers vs Florida Panthers Prediction.
Florida Panthers Betting Preview
The Florida Panthers look for back to back wins to take a 3-2 series lead. The Panthers are 5-2 on the road in these NHL playoffs. The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.33 goals per game and are scoring on 25 percent of their power play opportunities. Carter Verhaeghe leads Florida with 9 goals, Matthew Tkachuk has 14 assists and Sam Reinhart has 60 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 2.4 goals per game and are killing 87.2 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 35 goals on 364 shots faced.
New York Rangers Betting Preview
The New York Rangers look for a big home win to take a 3-2 series lead. The Rangers are 5-2 at home in these NHL playoffs. The New York Rangers are averaging 3.14 goals per game and are scoring on 26.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Vincent Trocheck leads New York with 8 goals, Mika Zibanejad has 11 assists, and Alexis Lafreniere has 39 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Rangers are allowing 2.64 goals per game and are killing 83 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Igor Shesterkin has allowed 35 goals on 454 shots faced.
NY Rangers vs Florida Panthers Injury Report
The Florida Panthers don’t have any player on their injury report entering game 5. The NY Rangers will continue to be without Blake Wheeler due to a lower body injury. Jimmy Vesey is questionable with an upper body injury.
Why the Florida Panthers will win
- The Panthers have won seven of their last eight games following a home win.
- The Rangers have lost each of their last four Game 5s of a playoff series.
- The road team has covered the puck line in seven of the Rangers’ last eight games.
- The Panthers have won the third period in seven of their last eight games as road favorites after coming off overtime.
New York Rangers Player Prop Facts
- Vincent Trocheck has scored a goal in three of the Rangers’ last four night games.
- Adam Fox has recorded at least one assist in each of the Rangers’ last seven Thursday games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Vincent Trocheck has recorded at least one point in nine of the Rangers’ last 10 games as underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Artemi Panarin ranks 1st in the Metropolitan Division for shootout goals (4) this season.
Florida Panthers Player Prop Facts
- Carter Verhaeghe has scored at least one goal in each of the Panthers’ last four playoff games as road favorites against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- Matthew Tkachuk has recorded at least one assist in four of the Panthers’ last five games as favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Carter Verhaeghe has recorded at least one point in each of the Panthers’ last 10 games against the Rangers.
- Sam Reinhart ranks 1st in the league for Power Play Goals (27) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The New York Rangers rank 3rd in the league in penalty kill percentage this season (84.48%).
- The New York Rangers rank 4th in the league in power play percentage this season (26.42%).
- The Florida Panthers rank T1st in the league for goals against per game this season (2.41).
- The Florida Panthers rank 6th in the league in penalty kill percentage this season (82.47%).
NY Rangers vs Florida Panthers Prediction
The NY Rangers and the even money is worth a look because they’re at home where they’ve won 35 games and Igor Shesterkin has been a brick wall all playoffs. With that said, I’m going to lay the small juice with the Florida Panthers because I still believe they’re the better team that’s played the better hockey in these playoffs. The Rangers just have Shesterkin, who continues to stand on his head. Eventually, the better hockey will get rewarded? At least that’s what I’m banking on with this pick. Give me the Panthers to win game 5 and take a 3-2 series lead back to Sunrise.