The battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division continues tonight in two separate games. The Pittsburgh Penguins look to hold the lead when they take on the Detroit Red Wings, while the New York Rangers look to leapfrog the Penguins as they welcome the Buffalo Sabres.
Pittsburgh Penguins (-1.5, -120) vs Detroit Red Wings (+1.5, +100)
The Penguins are going to want revenge against the Red Wings after dropping their first matchup of the season 3-2 in a shootout. It is the perfect time to do so as well. The Red Wings have struggled mightily of late, winning just two of their last 11 games and getting scored on a ton. The over is set pretty high and the Red Wings will be really fighting to get out of the slump they are in. I imagine a tighter checking game with less offence, so take the under (U6.5, -120).
In five of the last six wins, the Penguins have hit the puckline, while 14 of the last 16 losses for the Red Wings have been by two or more goals. Chances are this will continue. The odds are solid if you want to go that route. The Red Wings are coming off a loss yesterday in which they were defeated in overtime by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
New York Rangers (-1.5, -105) vs Buffalo Sabres (+1.5, -115)
The Sabres seem like they’re going to be a tough matchup for any team down the stretch even though they are all but out of playoff contention. They are 5-1-1 in their past seven games and are coming off a shootout loss to the Washington Capitals. I think the Rangers are going to be too much to handle for them, especially at home where they just dismantled the Penguins with three goals in the first five minutes of the game.
At home, the Rangers are 20-6-3, while the Sabres are 11-17-4 on the road. It will be a close game, so we’ll be counting on the much better goaltending for the Rangers in this one and for Shesterkin to shut the door as he has for most of the season. He had a blip for a few games recently but he’s back to the Vezina-calibre goalie everyone is familiar with.
Odds via Yahoo and BetMGM.
