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

Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers is set for Friday night. The Rangers picked up a 6-2 win in the series opener and are now looking to take complete control of the series. 

Tampa Bay came into this series after sweeping the Florida Panthers in the last round, but it also caused the Lightning to be rusty. The Lightning are hoping to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight season. 

New York came into this series as underdogs, but that’s a position that they are familiar with. The Rangers stunned the Carolina Hurricanes last round, and they have now won three straight games in the playoffs. 

The Tampa Bay Lighting are the moneyline betting favorites at -131 over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the series. 

Tampa Needs Vasilevskiy to Lead

If the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to even up the series, then they need goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to take over. Vasilevskiy had been terrific up to this point, but he stopped just 28 of the 34 shots he saw in the series opener. 

Tampa got 37 shots on goal in the Game 1 loss, but they just couldn’t find many chances to get good scoring opportunities. The Lightning are scoring just over 3.1 goals per game in the playoffs, and that offense needs to get going again.

Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 15 playoff points, but some of the other top players have been relatively quiet in the postseason. 

New York Not Short on Offense

The New York Rangers were an average offensive team in the regular season, but they have found a winning formula in the playoffs. New York got one power play goal in Game 1, but they continue to put pressure on when teams are at even strength. 

Chris Kreider has been an offensive weapon for the Rangers in the playoffs as he now has scored nine goals. Artemi Panarin is starting to get hot as well, and that’s always a good thing for this team.

The biggest story has been goaltender Igor Shesterkin as he continues to shut down opponents. Shesterkin made 37 saves in Game 1, and he is clearly good enough to lead his team to a Stanley Cup. 

Rangers Roll to 2-0 Series Lead

The Rangers are out to prove that the Game 1 win was no fluke, while Tampa Bay is desperate to steal home-ice advantage. It’s hard not to expect a big performance from the Lightning in this game, as this team just always seems to show up.

The problem for Tampa Bay is that they are now facing a red-hot New York team, and the Rangers are rolling on the offensive end of the ice. Shesterkin has also been terrific in net for the Rangers, and he is going to be terrific again in this one. 

Tampa Bay won’t lose by four goals in Game 2, but they are still going to lose this one by two. Take the New York Rangers -1.5 as they roll to another win in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Prop Picks

Tampa Bay (+130) 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 the opposing teams’ power plays, which ranks No. 7. Scores have gone UNDER in seven of the Rangers’ last 11 playoff games as a Vegas underdog.

With Dunkel predicting a New York victory by the score of 3-2, take the Lightning (+130) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 2.5 goals against the Rangers.

Igor Shesterkin (-135) OVER 29.5 Saves

Shesterkin has a .929 save percentage (511 saves, 550 shots against) during the postseason. That percentage increased during the regular season to .940 (851 saves, 905 shots against) at home and .955 (1073 saves, 1123 shots against) in New York wins.

With Dunkel predicting a Rangers home win while keeping Tampa Bay UNDER their Vegas team goal total, take Shesterkin (-135) to finish OVER 29.5 saves versus the Lightning.

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All Media on this page by Associated Press.