Penguins Look to Extend Road Dominance vs Rangers

Road dominance has been a major storyline in recent years between Pittsburgh and New York – and the Penguins would be perfectly fine with that trend continuing as they head to Madison Square Garden for a Tuesday encounter with the Rangers. The visiting team has won three of the previous four meetings, and 12 of 18 overall dating back to 2015.

Pittsburgh News & Notes

Success in one-goal games is often one of the leading barometers of a team’s success during the regular season – and that bodes well for the Penguins, who are 4-2 SU in one-goal contests so far this season, including back-to-back wins over the Islanders and Blackhawks coming into Tuesday’s Metropolitan Division encounter.

And while Sidney Crosby remains the Penguins’ offensive focal point with a team-best 17 points in 17 games, he has had plenty of help so far. Five Pittsburgh skaters have recorded double-digit points to date, while five players have scored five-plus goals. And with Evgeni Malkin (six points in six games) back to full health, the Penguins offense should continue to roll along.

New York News & Notes

While the Penguins have enjoyed plenty of success in close games this season, the Rangers have been the worst team in the league in that regard. The Broadway Blueshirts are just 1-3 in one-goal contests, including a 6-5 shootout defeat to the Florida Panthers last time out; New York has lost four consecutive shootouts dating back to last season.

Sunday’s setback to the Panthers also highlighted one of the biggest problems the Rangers have had – frustratingly inconsistent goaltending. New York has allowed two or fewer goals in four of its past seven games but has been torched for 18 goals in the other three games during that span. The Rangers have already allowed five or more goals in a game five times this season.

Betting Pick: Pittsburgh Moneyline (-120)

Ignoring the strange home/road trend, the Penguins have points in five of their previous six games and have the edge at both ends of the ice. We like the visitors to prevail.