[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers meet Wednesday in Game 1 of their best-of-7 Eastern Conference Final. Puck drop from Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET (ESPN/ESPN+). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Panthers vs. Rangers odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Panthers finished off the Tampa Bay Lightning in 5 games in the 1st round, and edged the Boston Bruins in 6 games in the 2nd round. The past 3 games were 1-goal games, and each ended up going Under, after a 6-0 run to the Over.
Florida has posted an impressive 4-1 mark on the road in 5 games in the postseason, including winning all 3 games in Boston. The only game the Panthers lost was an elimination game at Amalie Arena in Tampa in Game 4, when the team was already up 3-0 in the series.
As a favorite, Florida is 8-3 in the playoffs, and 3-1 on the road as a favorite. The Over is 3-2 in 5 playoff road games, but the Under has cashed in the past 2 instances.
For the Rangers, they swept the Washington Capitals in the 1st round, outscoring the Caps 15-7, while splitting the Over-Under. New York held a 3-0 series lead against Carolina, but lost the next 2 games to go back to Raleigh for a Game 6. They dropped the most recent game at home, losing 4-1 in Game 5 to Carolina, but New York is still 4-1 at MSG in these playoffs.
The Rangers are an underdog for the 7th consecutive game. They’re 4-2 in 6 games as an underdog in the playoffs, including 2-1 on home ice. They Over is 5-2 in the past 7 games for the Blueshirts.
These teams met 3 times in the regular season, with Florida winning twice, including 1 of the 2 meetings in Manhattan. The Rangers won the most recent meeting 4-3 in a shootout at MSG on March 23. In 2 of the 3 regular-season meetings, we had a 1-goal game.
The Over cashed in all 3 games this season, and the total has gone high at an amazing 18-0-1 clip in the past 19 in this series. The last time we had an Under result between these teams, James Reimer outdueled Henrik Lundqvist in a game in New York on Nov. 20, 2016.
Stream the NHL all season on ESPN+, with your team’s out-of-market games, exclusive games, originals and more. Get ESPN+ now!
Panthers at Rangers odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:21 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Panthers -110 (bet $110 to win $100) | Rangers -110 (bet $110 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Panthers -1.5 (+220) | Rangers +1.5 (-275)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3012″ ]
Panthers at Rangers projected goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky (8-3-0, 2.37 GAA, .902 SV% — 2024 playoffs) vs. Igor Shesterkin (8-2-0, 2.40 GAA, .923 SV% — 2024 playoffs)
Bobrovsky allowed 4 goals in Game 1 against the Boston Bruins, which was rather uncharacteristic. Bench boss Paul Maurice stuck with him, and Bob allowed just 8 goals in the final 5 games of the Bruins series, winning 4 of those starts.
Shesterkin allowed at least 3 goals in each of the past 3 games, including 4 goals in Game 4 in Carolina. He was tasked with a lot of saves, however, stopping 183 of the 198 shots he faced, good for a .924 SV% in the final 5 games of the Hurricanes series.
Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!
Panthers at Rangers picks and predictions
Prediction
Rangers 4, Panthers 3
Moneyline
The RANGERS (-110) opened as slight underdogs on home ice, but now it’s essentially a pick ’em.
The money has started to pour in on the home team, with nearly two-thirds of the bets, and roughly 60% of the money, backing the Blueshirts.
New York should probably be favored, even though it lost 2 of 3 to Florida in the regular season. This is a team which missed the President’s Trophy by a single point, and it had the best point total in the Eastern Conference. The disrespect for New York, especially against Carolina, was felt in the early games of that series when it was an underdog on home ice in both Games 1 and 2. The Rangers won. Look for that to happen again in this series opener.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Rangers +1.5 (-275) will cost you nearly 3 times your potential return, if you’re not quite sold on the Rangers, and would like a little insurance. That’s an awful bet, frankly, and not a good long-term betting strategy. If you like New York, just bet it straight up.
AVOID.
Over/Under
OVER 5.5 (-110) is the best play on the board in this series opener.
The Over run of 19-0-1 in the past 20 meetings between these teams is unbelievable, and we had a perfect 3-for-3 on Overs in the 3 regular-season battles.
It’s hard to believe we’re not going to have an Under at some point in this series, but you have some huge stones if you bet it to happen in Game 1 based on that history.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″ ]
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter/X. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter/X and like us on Facebook.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1369]