New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eastern Conference First Round Game 3 – April 20, 2015

Playing the Pittsburgh Penguins is no cake walk for any team. Not even for the NHL-best New York Rangers. Pittsburgh evened the series with a crucial Game 2 win in hostile territory, besting the Rangers through the efforts of Sidney Crosby. But can the Penguins keep hot when they welcome New York to CONSOL Energy Center? Read on four our take on this big Game 3 showdown.

There’s plenty more teams in contention to raise the Stanley Cup. Check out our complete previews for the Lightning vs. Red Wings and Capitals vs. Islanders.
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New York Rangers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Preview

Series Scores and Schedule

Game 1 — April 16, 7:00 PM ET, Pittsburgh Penguins 1, New York Rangers 2

Game 2 — April 18, 8:00 PM ET, Pittsburgh Penguins 4, New York Rangers 3

Game 3 — April 20, 7:00 PM ET, New York Rangers (-120) at Pittsburgh Penguins (EVEN); total 5.0 – view all NHL lines

Game 4 — April 22, 7:00 PM ET, New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins

Game 5 — April 24, Time TBD, Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers

Game 6 — April 26, Time TBD, New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins

Game 7 — April 28, Time TBD, Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers

Betting on the New York Rangers

The New York Rangers may be coming into Pittsburgh tied 1-1 in the series, but they stand an excellent chance of going ahead once again. The Rangers are the best road team in the league, finishing with a 28-11-2 record away from home in the regular season. They also won three of four playoff games at Pittsburgh last season.

[sc:NHL240 ]New York netminder Henrik Lundqvist was excellent at Pittsburgh last postseason. He went 3-1 with a 1.75 GAA in the four games at CONSOL Energy Center. Lundqvist had a .957 save percentage in those games.

The former Vezina Trophy winner ranked 10th in the league in save percentage (.922) and eighth in goals against average (2.25) in the regular season. Allowing four goals on 22 shots in Game 2 seems more of an anomaly than the norm for Lundqvist, so expect better goaltending from New York this time around.

But Lundqvist can’t do it all on his own. He’ll need the Rangers’ offense, especially their power play to step up big time moving forward. New York’s power play has gone just 2-for-12 in the series thus far. Some of their misses may be due to bad luck, as a handful of wide-open shots hit nothing but the post in Game 2.

While Rick Nash has already scored a goal in the postseason, it came a little too late with just a few ticks left on the clock before Game 2’s loss. But the Rangers can expect Derick Brassard to continue his excellent play on the frontline. Brassard has scored in both games in the series thus far and has collected three points (a goal and two assists) in two outings at CONSOL Energy Center in the regular season.

The Rangers have a deep roster, which could ultimately see them be the fresher team should the series play out much longer. Derek Stepan, Keith Yandle, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan McDonagh join Nash and Brassard with two points in the series thus far.

The total has gone over in three of the last four meetings.

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Betting on the Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby. That’s the name you need to know if Pittsburgh is to steal this series from the top-ranked New York Rangers. Crosby was spectacular in Game 2’s 4-3 win, scoring back-to-back goals in the second period for a 3-1 lead. Brandon Sutter and Chris Kunitz scored Pittsburgh’s two other goals both on the man advantage. The Penguins went 2-for-4 on the power play in Game 2.

But Crosby isn’t as hot playing at home. He’s converted just 8.8 percent of his shot attempts at CONSOL Energy Center compared to 14.6 on the road. If the Penguins are to take the series lead, then they’ll need Evgeni Malkin to get himself on the boards.

Malkin has been held to just two shots on goal in each of the first two games against New York. He has a goal and an assist in two regular season home games against the Rangers.

Considering the Rangers clamp down on Crosby in this game, the Penguins have a grand chance of getting Malkin to score his first goal in the series. But they’ll need Marc-Andre Fleury to continue his excellent play in between the pipes to take the lead in the series. The Penguins have been outshot 64-47 thus far in the series.

Fleury has saved 92 percent of the Rangers’ shots, allowing five goals over the first two games. But he may be set to struggle at home. He’s allowed a total of seven goals in two regular season home games against the Rangers. Fleury also struggled to keep the Rangers out of the net in last year’s playoffs, allowing 10 goals in four games at home.

Pittsburgh has lost five of their last seven home games.

Writer’s Prediction

The Rangers (-120) quiet the crowd with a 3-1 win.
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