Blues vs. Rangers NHL Preview and Best Bet (Archive)
The Blues skate into the Big Apple riding a four-game winning streak while the Rangers are trying to get back on track after dropping their last pair. Let’s analyze this matchup and keep cashing our NHL picks!
St. Louis Blues vs. New York Rangers
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 – 07:30 PM EST at Madison Square Garden
The Blues have now reeled off four straight wins and are winners in six of their last seven heading into Wednesday’s matchup with the Rangers. In their last outing, David Perron notched his 10th and 11th goals of the season while Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich also lit the lamp en route to the Blues’ 4-0 blanking of the Blackhawks in Chicago. Jordan Binnington turned aside all 30 shots to earn his second shutout of the year.
“You turn pucks over against these guys, they’ll quick-hit you right away,” Chicago interim coach Derek King said. “Their transition game is really good. That’s why they’re one of the top teams. We turned pucks over at the wrong time and it’s in the back of your net.”
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The Blues have been on point lately and although they have had a dearth of quality opponents, aside from Toronto in which they registered an impressive 6-3 victory, St. Louis has outscored the opposition 29-10 over their last seven wins. The only loss during their last eight games was a 3-2 overtime shocker against the lowly Canadiens in which the Blues had been installed as -270 road favorites.
Rangers Looking to Rebound
After winning five of six, the Rangers have dropped their last pair of games including a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Penguins in which Evgeni Malkin tallied on a man-advantage situation in the third period.
The following night the Rangers flew back to New York to take on the Canucks with backup netminder, Alexandar Georgiev, patrolling the crease. Despite the NHL odds at all of the best online sportsbooks revealing the Blueshirts as slight favorites, Vancouver wasted little time seizing control and scored the first four goals of the game before the Rangers' Alexis Lafreniere and Ryan Strome mounted any semblance of offense by cutting the lead in half in the final stanza.
Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson put the game on ice late in the game with his 17th goal of the season, sending the partisan crowd home unhappy in a 5-2 Rangers loss. “We’re getting good looks," Rangers’ defenseman Adam Fox said. "Maybe we got a little deflated being down 2-0 after the first period. The puck just hasn’t been going in for us. It’s one of those few games when the puck doesn’t go in for you.”
Wanna Make a Bet?
These teams have yet to meet this season but it should be an exciting game from puck drop to the final buzzer as the opponents will be well-rested entering this contest, both having last played on Sunday. The early NHL odds show the Rangers as slight underdogs which means we can get the Rangers at plus money at home where they are 17-5-3. That looks like value to me.
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There are a few things to consider in this game and it begins with the goaltending. New York’s Igor Shesterkin is arguably the best goalie in the league with a 1.95 goals-against average and a sizzling .941 save percentage. He has also shouldered the lion’s share of the starts this season with Alexandar Georgiev getting a rare start in relief in the last game due to it being the second game of back-to-backs. This means that Shesterkin will have had four days to catch his breath and get ready for the powerhouse Blues.
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On the flip side, St. Louis goaltender, Ville Husso, has wrested the starting job away from Jordan Binnington and should get the nod in this contest after Binnington started in the Blues’ last game against the Blackhawks. But the thing is, Binnington is now playing better while Husso is starting to show signs of gassing, surrendering nine goals over his last three games.
New York has the defense and elite goaltending to shut down any offense, currently allowing 2.49 goals per game which places them third in that category. They are also 5-0 in their last five games following a loss of three goals or more goals. New York will be ready for this one and despite the Blues’ offensive firepower, I like the home team with tremendous value in this one.
NHL Pick: Rangers ML (-114) at 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.