The New York Rangers will open up their Eastern conference semifinal round of the playoffs with Game 1 as they face the Boston Bruins in a pro hockey game on Thursday night. The Rangers and Bruins will face off from Boston at 7:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBC Sports Network.
The NHL playoff odds from game one has the home club Boston Bruins favored by -135 odds with the return on the road underdog New York Rangers at +125 odds. The goal over under line is set at 5 goals.
The Bruins and Rangers met three times during the lockout shortened regular season with the Rangers winning two of the three games. The Bruins win came at home with the Rangers recording a home and road win in this regular season series.
New York Rangers at 10-12-0-2 on the road this season. New York advances into the second round of the NHL playoffs after disposing of the Washington Capitals in seven games. They are coming off the game seven 5-0 road win on Monday night against the Capitals as a +111 underdog. The goal total landed right at the closing line of five goals.
The Rangers opened up a 3-0 lead on Washington at 5:34 of the second period and tallied two more goals in the final 34 minutes to earn the shutout victory in the deciding game. The Rangers played game seven on a back to back after extending the series in a 1-0 home win in game six against the Capitals. The Rangers are the fourth best scoring defense in the NHL by allowing 2.2 goals per game. Henrik Lundqvist gave the Rangers excellent goaltending in their first round series win against the Capitals and he recorded back to back shutouts in game six and game seven.
Boston is 16-5-0-3 playing on home ice. The Bruins advances into the second round of the NHL playoffs after defeating the pesky Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. Boston failed to close the door on Toronto after going up 3-1 in their series by dropping the next two games to force the deciding seventh game. Like New York, Boston was forced in a back to back game on Sunday in the series finale. The team lost game six by the score of 2-1 at Toronto.
The Bruins are coming off the 5-4 overtime victory in Game 7 on Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs as a -165 home betting favorite. The goal total soared over the total of five goals. The Bruins fall behind 5-2 at 5:29 of the third period but the Bruins rally for three goals in the final fourteen plus minutes to force the overtime session. At 6:05 of overtime Patrice Bergeron scores at even strength to advance Boston into round two of the playoffs. Boston puts good pressure on opponents this season by ranking second in the NHL with an average of 32.4 shots on goal per game. They are third in the NHL in scoring defense by allowing 2.2 goals per contest to opponents.