New York Rangers at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Preview/Prop Pick

Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the NHL is set for Tuesday night, and it should be a terrific battle. The New York Rangers will be on the road in Tampa Bay and looking to take a commanding lead. 

New York was not a big betting favorite to win the Eastern Conference when the playoffs began, but an upset over the Carolina Hurricanes have them in this position. The Rangers took care of business in both games at home but need to steal a game on the road.

Tampa Bay has won the last two Stanley Cup titles, and they are looking to pull off the feat for the third year in a row. The Lightning upset the top overall seed in the Florida Panthers, but they have work to do if they want to survive this series. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the moneyline betting favorites at -179 over the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Rangers Rolling on Offense

New York has gotten plenty of contributions on offense from up and down the roster, but Mika Zibeniead has led the way. Zibenejad has racked up 24 points in the playoffs, and he could be on the way to a Conn Smythe Trophy if the Rangers keep winning games.

The Rangers are comfortable playing a slow style of hockey, but this team has found a way to capitalize on every offensive chance it gets. Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox are able to put their teammates in good spots on that end of the ice.

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin stole the first two games of this series, and he was solid in the loss in Game 3. Shesterkin is giving up just 2.6 goals per game, and a similar effort could give his team a big series lead. 

Lightning Led By Vasilevskiy

Even though the Tampa Bay Lightning have the ability to score goals at a good clip, they continue to be led throughout the playoffs by goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy took over in the series against the Florida Panthers, but he hasn’t been as dominant yet in this matchup. 

The penalty kill unit for the Lightning has been bad in this series as well, and that group has to figure things out if they want to even the series. Tampa Bay has plenty of postseason experience, but they just haven’t been able to control this series. 

Nikita Kucherov has 20 points in the playoffs for the Lightning, and he has continued to be a star. This Tampa Bay team is still waiting for some other stars to show up, and they have the ability to simply outscore the Rangers if they are aggressive. 

Rangers Roll to Big Series Lead

The Tampa Bay Lightning were expected to cruise to a series win over the New York Rangers, but that just hasn’t been the case. New York has a ton of momentum on offense, and that unit is going to have another big game on Tuesday night. 

Tampa Bay just hasn’t been able to control any game in this series, and that will lead to them playing desperate hockey yet again. The Lightning will get another boost from the home crowd, but it’s not going to be enough this time around. 

A loss on Tuesday night will push the Lightning just one game away from elimination. Bet the New York Rangers moneyline as they pick up a win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference FInals to take complete control of this series.

Prop Pick

Tampa Bay (+160) UNDER 2.5 Goals

New York is allowing 2.5 goals per game on defense, which ranks No. 2 in the league, while killing 82.3 percent of power plays, which ranks No. 7. Scores have gone UNDER in seven of the Rangers’ last 10 games overall.

With Dunkel predicting a New York victory by the score of 3-2, take the Lightning (+160) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 2.5 goals against the Rangers.

Keep up with your latest NHL news coverage and betting pick previews at The Dunkel Index.

All Media on this page by Associated Press.