The Washington Capitals (40-20-6) take on the New York Rangers (35-27-4) at Madison Square Garden on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. We analyze the Capitals-Rangers sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Capitals at Rangers: Projected starting goalies
Ilya Samsonov vs. Henrik Lundqvist
The rookie Samsonov is confirmed to start at Madison Square Garden, putting his 16-6-1 records, 2.40 goals against average and .917 save percentage on the line. This will be his first career matchup against the Blueshirts.
King Henrik is projected to make the start after Alexandar Georgiev made the start last time out. Lundqvist is 10-12-3 with a 3.19 GAA and .904 SV% across his 26 starts and 29 appearances. He is 1-1-0 with a 2.54 GAA And .922 SV% in his two assignments against the Caps this season.
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Capitals at Rangers: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 10:10 a.m. ET.
Prediction
Capitals 3, Rangers 2
Moneyline (ML)
The CAPITALS (-143) are a solid play on the road against the Rangers (+120), even though they just played yesterday. Plus, the Caps are 6-2 in their past eight games in the second end of a back-to-back situation. The Rangers have been hot, going 9-4 in the past 13, but they’re also 7-19 in the past 26 against teams with a winning percentage over .600.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Caps to grab the road win returns a profit of $7.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
The puck line isn’t a great play, even though the Capitals (-1.5, +170) are awfully tempting at this price. If you were to play a small-unit bet, the Caps are definitely the way to go as opposed to the Rangers (+1.5, -209). The best play is to AVOID.
Over/Under (O/U)
The UNDER 6.5 (-154) is a slam-dunk play even though the Caps games have been going Over the projected total recently. The Over is 4-1 in Washington’s past five, although the Under is 5-1 in their past six on the road. The Under is also 5-1 in the past six at MSG for the Rangers. The Under is also 5-1-1 in the past seven meetings in New York.
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