Rangers vs Bruins NHL Spread/Handicapping
There is no greater sports rivalry than the only between New York and Boston but in hockey, playoff matchups between the two cities have been few and far between. In fact, the last time the Rangers and the Bruins met in the playoffs was way back in 1973 – the Rangers won that series.
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NY Rangers (30-19-2-4) at Boston Bruins (32-17-3-3)
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, May 16, 2013
Where: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Broadcast: NBC, RDS, TSN
Rangers vs. Bruins Betting Lines from Bovada
New York Rangers +1½ -275 +120 Ov 5 +116
Boston Bruins -1½ +230 -132 Un 5 -128
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New York vs. Boston – It Almost Had to Be
Both teams enter Thursday night’s Game 1 on quite a high – the Rangers rallied from a 3-2 series deficit to defeat the Capitals and the Bruins rallies from a 4-1 deficit in Game 7 of their opening round series to defeat the Leafs.
The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins met three times during the regular season – Boston beat New York on opening night at TD Garden, 3-1 and the Rangers won the next two meetings, 4-3 in overtime on Jan. 23, and 4-3 in a shootout on Feb. 12.
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The New York Rangers walked the tightrope in Round 1 and survived thanks largely to – guess who? Henrik Lundqvist – who didn’t allow a goal in the last 120 minutes of their series with Washington. He ended the first round series with a 4-3 record with an incredible 1.65 GAA and a .947 save percentage. He stopped 62 shots in Games 6 and 7 while facing elimination. He is a true difference maker and in the playoffs where goaltending is almost the #1 determining factor, the Rangers are obviously in terrific hands.
The Rangers are also shot-blocking machines. They have three of the top seven shot blockers in the playoffs – Dan Girardi is in second place with 24, Ryan McDonagh is in fourth with 20 and Ryan Callahan is in seventh with 18. Girardi led the NHL this season with 125 blocked shots, just under three per game. Boston is going to have some issues getting pucks through and unfortunately for them – they have Henrik behind the defense to slam the door.
Offensively the Rangers struggled a tad to find the back of the net before a 5-0 win in the deciding game. They averaged 2.29 goals per game against Washington and were led by names you wouldn’t necessarily think. Derick Brassard had nine points over the final five games against the Capitals and the next best Ranger was Mark Zuccarello who had five points in the seven games. Rik Nash had just two assists in Round 1 but seemed to be getting better and Brad Richards had just one assist in the seven games. New York’s Power Play hit the skids against Washington – just 7.1% – ungood.
The Boston Bruins are perhaps the luckiest team left in the playoffs – they rallied from a three-goal deficit in the last 11 minutes of the third period and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Patrice Bergeron’s overtime goal in Game 7. Now they need to refocus and get after it against a Rangers team that matches up well with them.[ad-4437448]
The Bruins were actually decent offensively against the Leafs. They averaged 3.14 goals per game and 39 shots per game. David Krejci caught fire in Round 1 and had five goals and eight assists, while line mate Milan Lucic had two goals and seven assists and Nathan Horton had four goals and three assists – 29 combined points in seven games against the Leafs. Zdeno Chara had eight points and 11 Bruins scored at least once in Round 1. Boston didn’t exactly light the lamp during the regular season but they found something in Round 1.
Injuries on defense could be the difference in Game 1. Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference and Wade Redden didn’t practice Wednesday. Their availability for Game 1 is in doubt, leaving open the strong possibility that rookies Matt Bartkowski, Torrey Krug and Dougie Hamilton will all play – advantage Rangers.
Tuukka Rask has been good in the playoffs and could bail this team out. He had a 2.49 GAA and .923 save percentage against the Leafs. But Rask is likely the second best keeper in this series and could show some cracks in Game 1 in the absence of some of his veteran D-Men.
Betting Prediction
A few trends to consider:
• Under is 10-3-1 in NYR last 14 Thu. games.
• NYR are 3-8 in their last 11 vs. Northeast.
• Under is 5-2-4 in NYR last 11 vs. Northeast.
• BOS are 7-1 in their last 8 Thu. games.
• Under is 8-2 in BOS last 10 vs. Atlantic.
• BOS are 2-6 in their last 8 vs. Atlantic.
• Under is 8-1-1 in the last 10 meetings in Boston.
• NYR are 7-2 in the last 9 meetings.
The Bruins lost two of the four games they played at home against the Leafs and they probably should have lost Game 7 as well. Add to that the fact that King Henrik is absolutely on top of his game and you have to like the Rangers in Game 1. Three key injuries on defense is hard to overcome – I can’t see it happening Thursday.
Pick: New York Rangers +120
