New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes: Series Odds, Analysis, Prediction

BetMGM's editorial staff breaks down the series

The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes met four times in the regular season, with the Canes winning three and losing one, as they outscored New York 14-10. In the regular season, the Hurricanes finished six points ahead of the Rangers with a +76 goal differential to New York’s +47.

With that being said, it makes sense NHL playoff odds have Carolina as heavy favorites.

Below are NHL betting picks and analysis for the second-round series.

Rangers vs. Hurricanes Series Odds

Series Betting: Rangers +165 | Hurricanes -200

Rangers vs. Hurricanes Analysis

It took the Hurricanes seven games to dispatch the Boston Bruins, winning all four at home, which makes having home-ice advantage through this series with New York all the more important.

The Canes leaned heavily on their defense, not just defending their end with backup Antti Raanta handling the net but also on offense. Defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Jaccob Slavin led Carolina in points with eight apiece, DeAngelo with one goal and Slavin with two.

Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen led the forward group with seven points each through the first round. The Hurricanes also received a big performance from Max Domi in Game 7, where he had two goals and an assist in their 3-2 win.

Raanta has played admirably in the net with a .927 SV% and a 2.37 GAA. He had an injury scare early on but was able to stick it out to win the series for his team.

Meanwhile, the Rangers went to Game 7 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning the final game 4-3 in overtime.

Artemi Panarin was the hero ending the Pens’ run with a powerplay goal. Mika Zibanejad led New York in scoring with three goals and 11 points. Defenseman Adam Fox is right behind him with three goals and ten points. Chris Kreider continued his goal-scoring into the playoffs, leading the Rangers with five goals.

Igor Shesterkin had a few shaky starts but got the job done in the final three games. He has a .911 SV% and a 3.66 GAA. New York won a critical Game 6 on the road to send the final game back to Madison Square Garden.

Against the puck line, New York is 45-44 and 24-20 on the road, while Carolina is 44-45 and 23-22 at home. A couple of trends to watch are the over is 7-0 in the Rangers’ past seven games and the over is 6-0-1 in the Hurricanes’ past seven games following a win. In both of their previous series, the combined over was 12-1-1.

Going into the playoffs, it felt like a home-ice advantage wasn’t that important, but the first-round series made a case for the opposite. Much like its series with the Bruins, I think playing at home will be a big part of Carolina’s momentum. Expect the Canes to set the tone early in this series and put Shesterkin to the test.

The danger for the Hurricanes is whether or not Shesterkin has completely shaken off all the cobwebs.

The Rangers’ future (in these playoffs and beyond) goes the way of his play. If Shesterkin is on, there is no telling how far they can go, but it’ll be a quick second-round exit if he doesn’t perform better than he did against the Penguins.

NHL Parlay Picks at BetMGM

BetMGM has you covered not only during the Stanley Cup playoffs, but throughout the NHL season. But the NHL playoffs are the perfect time for making NHL parlay picks in between examining the latest Stanley Cup betting odds.

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