The New York Rangers are taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins this afternoon in the NHL Playoffs. The game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on NBC. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Penguins favored to pick up the victory on their home ice.
Pittsburgh will be favored in every game the remainder of this series if Henrik Lundqvist can’t go. Lundqvist took a stick to the eye in Game 1 the other day, but it appears he is going to be able to avoid a major injury. Whether or not he plays in this game remains to be seen, but if he does get the start, will he be at 100 percent? The veteran goalie was a full-go in practice on Friday according to reports.
The Penguins have a bit of their own problems with their goal tender, Marc-Andre Fleury is still dealing with concussion issues. Jeff Zatkoff looks like he could be getting the start in this one for Pittsburgh, he was huge in the series opener by stopping 35 shots in just his 12th start in two years.
Pittsburgh’s offense helped out on that, scoring five goals. Patric Hornqvist poured in three of those tallies in the win, Sidney Crosby played well in the game too. Pittsburgh could certainly benefit from both of them playing well in this game again, though they could be getting Evgeni Malkin back in the lineup as well.
Antti Raanta, who had to come on in relief of Lundqvist in the opener, allowed three goals on less than 20 shots. He obviously wasn’t ready to go in that one and even if he is fully prepared for this contest, it could be a tough game.
Pittsburgh is the right play here, even if Lundqvist gets in between the pipes.
Free Pick: Pittsburgh
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