The New York Rangers take on the rival New York Islanders for the fifth time this season in the second half of a two-game series. The season series is tied 2-2 heading into Sunday, but the Rangers won Friday’s game 4-1 on the road. These teams play four more times before the end of the year.
- Date/Time: April 11, 7 p.m. ET
- Arena: Nassau Coliseum
- TV Coverage: MSG
- Sportsbook Odds: Islanders -150 | O/U 5.5 (Line History)
- Rangers vs Islanders Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The game opened with the Islanders as favorites at -150 and the line has since moved down into the -120 to -125 range depending on the book. The total opened at 5.5 and is locked in at that number with the OVER favored at most books in the -110 to -120 range.
Rangers News & Notes
It has been a rollercoaster season for the Rangers this season, but Friday’s win was a big one over one of the best teams in the league. Rookie first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere scored his seventh goal this season in the win and he has been an important part of the team’s second-half resurgence. After starting the year with just eight points through his first 30 games, Lafreniere now has five points in his last ten.
The Rangers also out shot and out chanced the Islanders in Thursday’s impressive victory. The Rangers had 31 scoring chances at even strength to the Isles’ 25 and out shot them 35-29 at evens. The teams tied in high danger chances.
The also seem to have found a legitimate number one starter in net in you Igor Shesterkin. The Russian was stellar in just twelve games last season and has officially seized the net for himself this season with a 10-9-2 record and impressive .921 save percentage in 22 games.
Islanders News & Notes
The Islanders lost their captain Anders Lee for the season a month ago and addressed the loss by making a big trade on Wednesday ahead of this week’s trade deadline. The Islanders picked up winger Kyle Palmieri and center Travis Zajac from the Devils in exchange for a first round draft pick and some bit pieces.
Palmieri and Zajac bolster an already potent Islanders attack that ranks fifth in the league in expected goals and fourth in expected goals for percentage. The Islanders also lead the league in high danger scoring chances this season with 415. They have also allowed only 272 high danger chances on the year which is the fifth fewest in the league. Given those numbers, they unsurprisingly lead the NHL in high danger scoring chances for percentage.
They have accomplished all that without a player on the roster scoring at a point-per-game pace. Mathew Barzal leads the team with 35 points in 41 games.
Betting Pick: Islanders -125
The Islanders are clearly the better team and theoretically improved even more last week with their big trade. But the Rangers have played them tough lately – they are 6-3 vs the Isles in their last nine. Still, Vegas knows this is closer than it appears on paper so the odds to take the superior Islanders are very reasonable. So that’s what we’ll do.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- NY Rangers are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Islanders.
- The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Islanders' last 6 games.
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Islanders' last 5 games against NY Rangers.
