Game two of the best of seven series between a pair of Eastern Conference rivals will take place on Tuesday. The Washington Capitals are on the road at the New York Rangers. The Rangers won the first game of the series.
Now, Washington will look to even the score as they head home following this game. Washington was the final team to get into the postseason out of the East. The Capitals went 40-31-11 on the season, and finished fourth in the Metro Division. Washington won each of their final three games.
For the New York Rangers, they battled all season, and came away with the Presidents Cup, for best regular season team. The Rangers finished with back to back wins and 7 out of their final 10 games. New York went 55-23-4 on the season.
The New York Rangers are -280 over Washington in Game 2. The total is set at 5.5 goals.
Big Time Underdog Capitals
Washington needed all the wins late in the season to get into the postseason. The Capitals won games at home against the Lightning and Bruins, and then on the road at Philadelphia to finish the season out. The Capitals went 4-5 through during April, as they dropped their first four in a row of the month.
Washington scored just 2.63 goals per game. That is one of the lowest in all of the National Hockey League. The shots on goal is 30th in the league, at 26.5 per game. Fortunately, Washington has been better on defense, allowing 3.07 goals per game.
The top scoring options for the Capitals this season have been Dylan Strome and Alexander Ovechkin. Strome finished with 67 points, while Ovechkin was at 65. John Carlson, one of teh elite defenders in the league was third on the team with 52.
New York Rangers Massive Favorites
On the other side, the New York Rangers have put together a really solid 2023-2024 season. The Rangers are scoring nearly 3.4 goals per game, and allowing just under 2.8 per game. Offensively, the Rangers have one of the best power play units in the league, at 26.4%.
The top offensive stars for the Rangers have been Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trohcheck, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox. Panarin leads the team with 120 points, but the other three guys are just over 73 each. New York has seen good health, with four of their top six scorers playing every game.
In between the pipes for the Rangers will be Igor Shesterkin. He allowed just one goal in Game One. On the season, he went 36-17-2 and allowed 2.58 goals per game. He was able to have four shut-outs on the season as well.
Rangers Smoke Capitals
New York is really good. Washington just barely got in, and probably do not deserve to be one of the best 16 teams. They are borderline for sure. The Rangers are going to make quick and easy work of the Capitals in this series.
Game two is going to go to the New York Rangers. New York wins by multiple goals, so consider taking the Rangers at -1.5 (+105) over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday!
