NHL Betting – New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators

New York Rangers (-105) at Ottawa Senators (-105, 5 o/u)

Two of the hottest teams in the NHL will face-off tonight as the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers (46-19-7, 99 pts) head to the Canadian capital to face the surging Ottawa Senators (37-24-11, 85 pts) at the Canadian Tire Centre (7:30 PM Eastern).

The Senators are 9-1 in their last ten and have won seven in a row heading into tonight. The recent push has vaulted the team past Boston for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. (They are currently one point up on the Bruins with one game in hand.)

“We’ve been chasing it, and that’s been our goal to get inside the eight, so it’s real enjoyable,” Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said after downing the San Jose Sharks (5-2) on Monday. “Wins are always nice, and they’re really nice in this case because we’re in the top eight with a day off [Tuesday].”

On Monday, Ottawa headed into the third trailing 2-1, but out-shot San Jose 17-9 in the final frame and rattled off four unanswered goals. Bobby Ryan had three assists in the win while Alex Chiasson potted the game winner with just under eight minutes left in the third.

The Rangers, meanwhile, are a solid 7-2-1 in their last ten games and have opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Metropolitan Division (with two games in hand). New York only has ten games left in the regular season and has all but assured itself of a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference. They currently trail Montreal by one point for top spot in the East, and they let a chance to usurp first place slip away in their last game, losing 4-2 to the Kings at home.

The Kings dominated the play in the first two periods, outshooting the Rangers 31-21 and opening up a 2-1 lead. Early third period goals by Jeff Carter and Jake Muzzin put the game out of reach. Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes scored for the Rangers.

“Our execution wasn’t what it needed to be against such a strong opponent,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said after the loss. “We paid the price for it.”

For tonight’s game, both teams are currently listed at -105 moneyline and the over/under is at five.  The Rangers have won three of the last four games in the series, all of them as the visitor.

But the Sens have been almost untouchable of late behind the impeccable play of rookie goalie Andrew Hammond; add in the fact that the Rangers will once again be starting backup Cam Talbot (though Henrik Lundquist will dress) and taking Ottawa (-105) looks like better value.

(Photo credit: Lisa Gansky from New York, NY, USA (IMG_4330) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)