NHL Hockey Betting: New York Rangers at Vancouver Canucks

The New York Rangers needed a win in the worst way on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden and they got one, beating Ottawa 4-1. Now they’re rested and heading out on the road starting with a game 3000 or so miles away at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver against the Canucks. New York has been reeling ever since they were dominated by Montreal in a battle of the best teams in the East at the time–they’ve lost five of their last seven with both their defense and offense running hot and cold. Everything came together in the Ottawa win and Blueshirt fans are hoping that carries over to the road where the Rangers will play five of their next six games starting with three straight games against Canadian teams in Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

The Canucks have also been slumping but are hanging on to second place in the Pacific Division with 28 points. Vancouver is 3-5-2 in their last ten games and have lost 10 of their last 13. They’re also coming off a win, beating Buffalo 5-2 in their last game putting them in a similar situation as their opponents in tonight’s game and hoping that the momentum continues. Neither team has ‘confirmed’ starting goalies for tonight’s contest but it’ll most likely be a matchup of the team’s top netminders with Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes for the Rangers and Ryan Miller in goal for Vancouver.

This is the final home game for Vancouver before they head out on the for a six game trip with stops in Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Detroit, Florida and Tampa Bay. They have a four day break before their next game so it doesn’t look like a spot where the ‘last home game before a big road trip’ angle comes into play. Vancouver has been horrible in several situational spots relevant to this game–they’re 0-6 after a win by 2 or more goals, 4-10 against the Eastern Conference and 3-11 against opponents with winning records. The Rangers, meanwhile, are 8-4 against opponents over .500. New York is a legit team even with center Derek Stepan and forward Kevin Klein sidelined. They’re better than the Canucks in every phase of the game.

BET NEW YORK RANGERS -120 OVER VANCOUVER CANUCKS