Game 3 of the best of 7 series in the Eastern Conference will feature the New York Rangers on the road at the Washington Capitals. The Rangers, who are the top seed in the East, lead the series 2-0 after back to back home wins.
The Washington Capitals won their final three games of the regular season to get into the postseason. They grabbed the 8th seed in the East with their 40-31-11 record on the season. Washington finished the regular season 4-4-2.
The New York Rangers were the Presidents cup winner. The Rangers finished with a 55-23-4 record. The Rangers won their final two games of the regular season, and 7 out of their last 10. New York won the Metropolitan Division over Carolina.
The New York Rangers are -170 on the road at Washington. The total is 5.5 goals.
Top Seeded New York Rangers
The Rangers got behind early in Game 2, but stormed back for four of the next five goals. The Rangers allowed a late third period goal to make it interesting, but it was enough. Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller all scored goals in the game. It was their first of the postseason for each.
In the game one win, the Rangers used first period goals from Matt Rempe, Artemi Panarin and Jimmy Vesey to go ahead and stay ahead. Chris Krieder added a goal later to make it 4-1. The Rangers scored 3.39 goals per game in the regular season. The defense was solid too, allowing just 2.76 per game.
Panarin, Trocheck and Kreider were the top scorers during the regular season for New York. Panarin had a team high 49 goals and 71 assists on the season. The goaltender for New York has been strong with Igor Shesterkin leading the way. He went 36-17-2 in the regular season, and allowed 2.58 goals per game.
Struggling Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals did not have a great regular season. In fact, Washington was one of the worst teams in the regular season offensively. They ranked 28th, with 2.63 goals per game. In the postseason so far, they are averaging 2 per game. In Game 1, Martin Feheravry scored the lone goal. On Wednesday, Connor McMichael, Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson all recorded their first goals of the postseason.
Washington used Charlie Lindgren again between the pipes. He is now 0-2 in the postseason. Lingren saved 24 shots, but allowed 4 goals to New York. The goaltender went 25-16-7 and allowed 2.67 goals per game.
The winner of this series will move on to take on the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders. The Hurricanes are also leading the series 2-0, as they shift their games to Long Island.
Rangers Go Up 3-0
The New York Rangers are a better team than the Washington Capitals. New York is going to want to make quick and easy work of Washington to get ready for hte second round. We do not think the Rangers will have any problem in this game. T
he New York Rangers win this game, and they win it easily. Take the New York Rangers -170 over the Washington Capitals. Consider the New York Rangers -1.5 at +150 as well.
