Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Rangers vs Penguins Odds
Looking for New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins free hockey plays? NHL betting sees the Penguins taking on the Rangers on Thursday March 3rd at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions.
(37-20-6) New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (32-22-8)
Date: Thursday, March 3rd
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: (OPEN) Rangers -130, NOW Penguins -145
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds: OFF
NHL Betting Total: (Open) 5.5 120
Live NHL Odds
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Metropolitan Division rivals Pittsburgh and New York will square off for the second time this season.
It’s crunch time for most of the Metro division as Washington has all but locked up the top spot, but the Rangers, Pens and Islanders are all battling for the remaining two playoff spots.
Pittsburgh is currently holding the eighth and final playoff spot in the East and the Rangers reside in second.
New York Rangers
The Rangers are starting to hit their stride finally, and come into Thursday’s contest riding a three-game win streak and are 7-2-1 over their last 10.
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The defensive woes that ailed them early in the year have been tidied up and in their current win streak have surrendered just four goals in three games.
The offense however still has a tendency to get snake bitten and they’ve won each of their last three by just a single goal, managing just seven goals in that stretch, with their highest output coming in a 3-2 win over a largely inept Dallas Stars defense.
New York posted a convincing 3-0 win over the Pens in their last meeting and going back to last season have really had the Pens’ number, winning 8 of their last 10 meetings and outscoring Pittsburgh by a 30-16 margin.
Where the Rangers will find offense is anyone’s guess as they tend to have different guys step up on different nights.
Rick Nash is still out of the lineup with a knee injury, but the rest of the team is healthy and their depth at forward is a handful for any team.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have been a very tough team to get a read on this year. For all of their talent, they’ve been a disappointment as they were expected to compete for top spot in the East but instead sit in eighth.
Pittsburgh opened this week with a 6-0 beat down of the Arizona Coyotes, and played a very good game against the Capitals on the second half of back to back games but ran out of gas late and were beaten 3-2 by the league’s best team.
The Pens will need another effort like they had against the Caps if they want to beat the Rangers and start to gain ground in their chase for a top three spot in the division.
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Sidney Crosby was a man possessed for a stretch of games from early January to mid-February but cooled off again, managing just three points over an eight game stretch that started with the 3-0 loss to the Rangers where he went -3.
This team goes as Crosby goes and when he’s in top form he pulls the team up a level, Sid hasn’t had a lot of success against the Rangers and has just two points in his last five regular season games against the blue shirts.
NHL Hockey Handicapping Trends
- NYR are 7-1 in their last 8 vs. Eastern Conference.
- Under is 4-1-3 in NYR last 8 vs. Metropolitan.
- NYR are 43-19 in their last 62 vs. Metropolitan.
- PIT are 9-2 in their last 11 home games.
- Over is 9-3-3 in PIT last 15 home games.
- Under is 16-6-4 in PIT last 26 vs. Metropolitan.
Free New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Hockey Prediction
The Rangers have held over the Pens for more than a year now and I don’t see that changing on Thursday night.
The Rangers are playing some of their best hockey of the season (aside from a great stretch in November). The Penguins have more fire power to be sure, but the Rangers just seem to have a way of frustrating Pittsburgh and winning the close games.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Rangers with the ML Upset
A close game that likely comes down to the last 10 minutes of the third or overtime. I like the Rangers to win a tight contest.
NHL Free Score Prediction: New York 3 – Pittsburgh 2
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