Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers Betting Preview/Prop Picks

The Carolina Hurricanes visit New York for a matchup with the Rangers on Saturday night in Game 6 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series. Carolina comes into this game with a 3-2 series lead and can send the Rangers into the offseason with a win. 

Carolina won the Metropolitan Division this season with 116 points and beat the Boston Bruins in the First Round in seven games. The Hurricanes put themselves in position to capture this series on the road after winning at home in Game 5, 3-1. 

New York finished second in the Metropolitan Division with 110 points and followed that up by overcoming a 3-1 deficit to Pittsburgh by taking that First Round series in seven games. After surviving three elimination games versus the Penguins, Gerard Gallant's team faces another one tonight.

The Rangers are the moneyline betting favorites at -115 over the Hurricanes with the game total set at 5.5. 

Carolina Continues To Play Tight Defense

The Hurricanes have gotten strong goaltending from Antti Raanta, who has started all five games and saved 118 of 126 shot attempts for a percentage of .937. That's a significant upgrade over his .912 save percentage in 28 games while serving primarily as Frederik Andersen's backup during the regular season.

Raanta didn't have to be spectacular in the Game 5 win as the Canes' defense limited New York to just 17 shots with Raanta stopping 16 of them. While the Rangers' leading scorer, Artemi Panarin, did pick up an assist on their lone goal, it has been tough series for the veteran left wing. After recording 96 points (22 goals, 74 assists) during the regular season, Panarin has been able to tally only 2 points (0 goals, 2 assists) so far in this series.

Meanwhile, Carolina's two primary offensive threats -- forwards Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen -- have come up with some timely scoring. They lead the Canes in scoring with 4 points apiece (2 goals, 2 assists) with Teravainen picking up the game-winning goal in Game 5.

Rangers Have to Battle

New York has been equally strong in net with goalie Igor Shesterkin matching Raanta save-for-save. He has stopped all but 8 of 156 shots for a save percentage of .949. He faced far more action than his counterpart in Game 5 with 31 saves and kept the contest from being lopsided. New York will have to clean up its effort in front of Shesterkin for Game 6.

While Panarin has struggled on offense, center Mika Zibanejad has stepped up with a team-high 3 goals and 4 points. The veteran center has 6 goals in the postseason and has scored in each of the last three games against Carolina.

The Rangers don’t want this game to turn into a shootout, and they will have to battle all night long to keep their season alive. 

Hurricanes Advance to Conference Finals

Carolina put itself in position to advance to the Conference Finals with its finest performance in Game 5 at home. Now the Canes have to prove they can win on the road, something they haven't done in five previous tries this postseason while being outscored, 21-8.

The Rangers have been equally physical with the Canes, and they have made this as tight a series as expected. At some point, though, Carolina is due to break through with a road victory and simply has been able to shut down the New York attack with a stifling defense.  

As competitive as the series has been, it’s not going to go to a Game 7. Bet the Carolina Hurricanes -105 over the New York Rangers as the visitors punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Prop Picks

NY Rangers (-115) UNDER 2.5 Goals

Carolina is allowing 2.4 goals per game on defense, which ranks No. 1 in the league, while killing 88.0 percent of its power plays, which also ranks No. 1. Scores have gone UNDER in six of the Hurricanes' last 10 games as a road underdog. 

With Dunkel predicting a Carolina victory by the score of 2-1, take the Rangers (-115) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 2.5 goals against the Hurricanes.

Antti Raanta (-110) OVER 26.5 Saves

Raanta had 644 saves on 706 shots during the regular season, which was good for a .912 save percentage. That percentage has increased to .937 (118 saves, 126 shots) in the five postseason games versus New York.

With Dunkel predicting a Carolina win while holding New York UNDER its team goal total, take Raanta (-110) to finish OVER 26.5 saves versus the Rangers.

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