The New York Rangers (38-5-18) travel to Amalie Arena on Saturday evening to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (39-6-15). The two have already met twice this season with the team from the Empire State winning two points each time.
On March 19, however, we might see the opposite happening. As per New York Rangers odds, this team is an underdog. The reason behind this might be the fact that their strongest weapon – their defense – hasn’t been working great over the last couple of weeks.
Further, New York’s next opponent has been great in Tampa. The Lightning has won 67.85% of their home games in the 2021-22 season. Meanwhile, the Rangers have a 56.25%-win percentage when playing away from New York.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs New York Rangers Odds
Spread
| New York Rangers +1 | +143 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning -1 | -167 |
Moneyline
| New York Rangers | +127 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | -135 |
Over/Under
| Over 5.5 | -116 |
| Under 5.5 | +110 |
Tampa Bay Lighting Doing Great at Amalie Arena
This team won the previous two Stanley Cups and is one of the top favorites to add another one to the collection. Sure, there’s still plenty of time left before the playoffs, but as things currently stand, we are going to see the Lightning there.
This team is sitting in the #2 position in the Atlantic Division, with only a couple of points fewer than the table leader, the Florida Panthers. What this means is that Tampa players have a pretty decent chance of getting to the top of the standings.
To do that, they will try to utilize the support from the stands in their home games. They did the same in the previous two seasons. In the 2020-21 season, for example, they had a 75%-win percentage at Amalie Arena.
Right now, their percentage is not as high, but the good news for the Bolts is that their home form seems to be improving. They are 8-2-2 since the start of the year.
New York Rangers Need to Straight Out Their Defense
The Rangers’ strongest weapon this season has been their defense. So far, these guys have conceded only 159 goals. Considering that they’ve played 61 games this season, their average is just 2.60 goals against them per game.
The bad news is that over the last couple of weeks, the Rangers have been conceding more than usual. In the previous five games, they conceded a total of 19 goals, which accounts for 3.8 goals on average.
What’s even more worrying is that they tend to allow a lot when playing against the Lighting. In fact, in the previous five Rangers vs Lightning duels, the NY team conceded 17 goals. One of those saw them lose 9-3. On the bright side for the New Yorkers, their most recent game with the Lightning was a 3-0 shutout win.
Rangers vs Lightning Prediction
The Lightning are favored by online sportsbooks for a reason. They have a fantastic roster that’s great in all aspects of the game. These guys definitely do have the manpower to score a couple of goals even against such a great defensive team like the Rangers.
Pick:
- Tampa Bay Lightning
