The Tampa Bay Lightning made things interesting with a Game 3 victory over the New York Rangers. While the Lightning are still down 2-1 in the series, another home victory could send the series back to Madison Square Garden all tied up. Can the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions get back to form? This is where you’ll find everything, including team win odds, the over/under, and point spreads.
New York Rangers (+160) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (-180)
Thanks in part to a three-point performance from Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning have some life in the Eastern Conference Final. He scored midway into the second to reduce the Rangers’ lead by one and then assisted on both Lightning goals in the third period. Tampa Bay is the favourite to take Game 4 and even up the series. Andrei Vasilevskiy is 8-2 in Game 4 situations in the last three postseasons and is coming off one of his best performances of this series.
The Rangers are keeping pace with the Lightning through three games, and they would be up 3-0 had it not been for some disciplinary issues. They allowed two power-play goals for the first time since Game 3 of Round 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They got goals from players you’d expect to come up big, and Igor Shesterkin delivered a monster 49-save performance.
Over/Under
Both goaltenders showcased why they’re still playing for a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup, and they’re making the goal-scorers on both sides work for every opportunity. They play an intense offensive structured game, do well enough defensively, and have a Vezina-calibre goaltender to back them up. On paper, they’re evenly matched, and it’s no surprise that Game 3 came down to the wire. It’s going to become a matter of tight defensive and checking lines changing up the momentum, so go with the under for goals (U 5.5, -125).
Game Props
Taking a look at some of the prop bets, there’s an intriguing combination that could earn a maximum return if the under is met. The prop of both teams scoring two goals or more (-135), paired with the Rangers winning 3-2 (+1400), fits in with the under 5.5 prop. Should that result come to fruition, you’re looking at a $150 return on a $10 bet. The Rangers are an excellent bounce-back team, so it would be wise not to count them out just yet.
Odds via Yahoo and BetMGM.
The Hockey Writers & THWBets promotes responsible gaming, and provides this content as opinion and analysis with no guarantees or assurances.
For more information about responsible gambling, including help for problem gambling behaviour, please visit these great resource pages:
If you’re in Canada, Rogers Sports & Media has put together a great information and resources page.
If you’re in the United States, MGMResorts has a great page for gambling problem resources.
