Rangers vs. Penguins Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 4 Free Picks (Archive)
ESPN has the telecast of Game 4 of Rangers-Penguins with Pittsburgh leading 2-1. I thought entering this that New York would win in seven, and I’m still fine with that – although obviously not as much if they lose Monday. Guess that tells you where I’m leaning.
The Pittsburgh Penguins look to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the visiting New York Rangers on Monday. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Monday, May 09, 2022 – 07:00 PM EDT at PPG Paints Arena
Rangers vs. Penguins Odds Breakdown
On the updated series line at the NHL odds board, the Pens are -180 and Rangers +160. The favored exact result is New York in seven at +270, which seems rather strange considering that Pittsburgh is favored to win the series.
Pens in seven games is a +450 long shot. On the series spread, New York at +1.5 games is -140 and Pittsburgh at -1.5 at +110. That it ends in seven games is +125, followed by six at +130 and five at +360.
The series will return to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Wednesday. The home team has won 12 of the last 16 meetings overall.
Rangers Will Go Back to Igor
Do the Rangers have a goaltending controversy? I highly doubt that, but likely Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin was pulled with his team down 4-1 on Saturday in Game 3. Coach Gerard Gallant said he made the change simply to spark the team, and it actually did work as the Rangers would tie the game at 4-4 before losing 7-4.
Backup Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves in relief but gave up a soft goal to Penguins forward Danton Heinen at 11:02 of the third period that gave Pittsburgh a lead it would not relinquish. The Rangers have had a three-goal comeback win just once in the postseason: Game 3 of the 1982 division semifinals against the Flyers.
"It was 4-1. It was totally tilted. Sometimes you spark your team with a goalie change. Igor was our MVP all season. I thought we'd give him a little rest tonight and hopefully spark our team. And it worked," Gallant said. There’s no indication that Shesterkin won’t start Game 4.
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Kaapo Kakko (first of playoffs), Frank Vatrano (second), Artemi Panarin (second) and Andrew Copp (third) scored in the loss. It was Panarin’s 100th point of the season. He’s the first Rangers player to hit triple digits since Jaromir Jagr in 2006-07. Copp is the third player in team history to have a goal in each of his first three playoff games with the Rangers.
New York finished 0-for-3 on the power play but did have a short-handed goal. The score was a bit misleading because two Pittsburgh goals were on an empty net. Blueshirts defenseman Ryan Lindgren missed his second straight game after being labeled a game-time decision.
The Rangers are 10-23 overall in a best-of-seven series when trailing 2-1 and 5-4 when starting said series at home. They are 8-2 in their past 10 on the NHL picks following a loss of at least three goals.
Pens’ Crosby Owns Rangers
Teams that take a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series like the Penguins hold a series record of 369-158 (.700) all-time, including 7-4 last year. Saturday’s victory was the 43rd career playoff win for Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan, tying Dan Bylsma for the most in franchise history.
Jeff Carter and Evan Rodrigues both had two goals in the victory. The Pens put up four goals in the first period alone. Those are the third-most in a first period of a playoff game by any team. Rodrigues had both goals and a helper in that period.
Sidney Crosby had two assists and is up to 196 career playoff points in 194 games. He passed Hall of Famer Paul Coffey for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time postseason points list. Crosby has 20 career playoff points vs. the Rangers, passing Henri Richard (18) for the most among all players in NHL history versus the franchise.
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Crosby has five straight playoff games with at least two points vs. the Rangers. That’s the longest such active streak by any player against an opponent in the league.
Pittsburgh scored just four goals in four regular-season games vs. the Rangers but has 13 in this series. The seven-goal outburst in Game 3 was the team’s highest total in a playoff matchup since Game 6 of the 2018 first round against the Flyers.
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It will be third-string netminder Louis Domingue starting in net again with No. 1 Tristan Jarry still out injured (yet to play in this series) and No. 2 Casey DeSmith done for the season following a Game 1 injury.
Forward Rickard Rakell missed Game 2 with an injury and is questionable for Monday. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin has missed the past two and also is questionable.
I don’t trust Domingue that much and expect Shesterkin to be much better. Pittsburgh is 2-7 on the NHL odds in its past nine following a win.
Score Prediction: Rangers 3, Penguins 2
NHL Pick: New York Rangers ML (-102) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.