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

Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals is set for Thursday night, and the series is tied at two wins apiece. The home team has won all four games of this series up to this point, and the New York Rangers hope to make it five straight as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Tampa Bay is the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion, and they did what they needed to do to get back in the series. The Lightning must still win a game on the road, but this team has been there before. 

New York jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over Tampa Bay, but they couldn’t keep the momentum on the road. The Rangers have been a great story so far in the playoffs, but they have to pick up this win at home. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning are the moneyline betting favorites at -133 for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Lightning Looking to Shut Rangers Down

Tampa Bay has gotten great play from goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy during the Stanley Cup title runs, and that same strategy is working again. Vasilevskiy was terrific in the two games at home, and he is good enough to take control of this series. 

Tampa Bay is still looking to get the offense rolling with more consistency, but they can be dangerous when they figure things out. Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos both scored their 7th postseason goal in the Game 4 win. 

The Lightning will look to control the tempo and puck in this game, and doing so will push them to a 3-2 series lead. 

Rangers Must Roll on Offense

The New York Rangers scored right around three goals per game during the regular season, and they were not considered explosive. New York has flipped the script in the playoffs, especially on the power play. 

Artemi Panarin had a power play goal in the Game 4 loss, and the Rangers have to find a way to do some more scoring. Mika Zibanejad has 24 points in the postseason, and Adam Fox has chipped in with 23.

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin has carried this team through the postseason so far, but he struggled in Tampa Bay. The Rangers need a big effort from their star goaltender to take a 3-2 series lead.

No Stopping the Lightning

The Rangers probably needed to sweep this season to keep the Lightning from getting any momentum, but Tampa Bay comes into this game on a roll. There is a reason that this team has won two straight Stanley Cup titles, and they have looked like that team of late. 

Igor Shesterkin is always capable of taking over a game for New York, but it’s just simply not going to happen on Thursday night. New York doesn’t have the offense to keep up when the Lightning are playing well, and that will be the case in this game. 

This one might get out of hand in a hurry as Tampa Bay will roll. Bet the Tampa Bay Lightning -2.5 as they cruise to another victory and take an important 3-2 series lead over the New York Rangers.

Prop Picks

NY Rangers (-125) UNDER 2.5 Goals

Tampa Bay is allowing 2.8 goals per game on defense, which ranks No. 6 in the league, while killing 80.6 percent of power plays, which ranks No. 11. Scores have gone UNDER in eight of the Lightning’s last nine games overall.

With Dunkel predicting a Tampa Bay victory by the score of 3-1, take the Rangers (-125) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 2.5 goals against the Lightning.

Nikita Kucherov (-130) OVER 0.5 Assists

Kucherov had 44 assists in 47 games during the regular season, which ranked No. 3 on the Lightning. He has added 14 assists in 15 postseason games, which ranks No. 1. The veteran RW had 39 assists in 29 Tampa Bay wins compared to only 5 assists in 18 Tampa Bay losses.

With Dunkel predicting a Tampa Bay road win, take Kucherov (-130) to finish OVER 0.5 Assists 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.