The Ottawa Senators will try to stop their 4 games losing streak at Madison Square Garden tonight. Goalie Alex Auld expected to be in goal. Big no 1 line has been reunited at practice, enforcer Chris Neil is out, Christophe Shubert (healthy scratch).
The Rangers are on a 2 game winning streak. Center Scott Gomez remains out, goalie Henrik Lundquist expected to go.
The Senators have won 6 of the last 7 meetings against the Rangers. Ottawa is 3-5 on the road this year, the Rangers 8-4at home.
Oddsmakers making the Rangers (-145,-150) fav at most Sportsbooks tonight, could get a little better at some places. Well, you can thanks Ottawa recent record against the Rangers for this line. New York is amoung the top 10 teams of the NHL this year, Ottawa is in the bottom 10 th team in the NHL or mid 20's if you prefer. For some reasons Ottawa still getting ton of respect from oddsmakers because they have 3 offensive superstars making headlines. But the reality on this team this year show a team with a defensive corps below NHL average, average goaltending, no secondary scoring on second and third lines and suspect coaching. Forget the powerful Senators of old without Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden and Dominik Hasek.
The 2008-2009 edition of the Rangers matchup well against the Sens in my opinion. New York is playing a tight defensive and physical game. Ottawa has not shown they want to get their nose dirty this year. This team is soft and you can have success playing physical against them. The NY Islanders have exposed the Sens holes in the last 2 games. Opposition is better tonight.
I like the Rangers chances, I think big men like Brandon Dubinsky, Aaron Varos and Colton Orr could have a good night hitting and banging the Sens players. Indeed, Ottawa is without their tough guy Chris Neil, add the absence of physical defenseman Christophe Shubert out of the lineup. . Sens not scoring much lately, outscored by avg. of 1 full goal in last 5 games. You have 15-20 cents value here in my opinion.
NY Rangers (-142)
The Rangers are on a 2 game winning streak. Center Scott Gomez remains out, goalie Henrik Lundquist expected to go.
The Senators have won 6 of the last 7 meetings against the Rangers. Ottawa is 3-5 on the road this year, the Rangers 8-4at home.
Oddsmakers making the Rangers (-145,-150) fav at most Sportsbooks tonight, could get a little better at some places. Well, you can thanks Ottawa recent record against the Rangers for this line. New York is amoung the top 10 teams of the NHL this year, Ottawa is in the bottom 10 th team in the NHL or mid 20's if you prefer. For some reasons Ottawa still getting ton of respect from oddsmakers because they have 3 offensive superstars making headlines. But the reality on this team this year show a team with a defensive corps below NHL average, average goaltending, no secondary scoring on second and third lines and suspect coaching. Forget the powerful Senators of old without Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden and Dominik Hasek.
The 2008-2009 edition of the Rangers matchup well against the Sens in my opinion. New York is playing a tight defensive and physical game. Ottawa has not shown they want to get their nose dirty this year. This team is soft and you can have success playing physical against them. The NY Islanders have exposed the Sens holes in the last 2 games. Opposition is better tonight.
I like the Rangers chances, I think big men like Brandon Dubinsky, Aaron Varos and Colton Orr could have a good night hitting and banging the Sens players. Indeed, Ottawa is without their tough guy Chris Neil, add the absence of physical defenseman Christophe Shubert out of the lineup. . Sens not scoring much lately, outscored by avg. of 1 full goal in last 5 games. You have 15-20 cents value here in my opinion.
NY Rangers (-142)