Ryan McDonagh and the New York Rangers have been winning games without generating offense, which could catch up to them against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.
The host Rangers are a -175 betting favorite against the +145 underdog Flyers with a 5.5-goal total for their Metropolitan Division clash, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Rangers, curiously, are only 4-6 in their last 10 home games at Madison Square Garden when they were a favorite of -150 or greater on the moneyline.
Philadelphia is 23-19-6 this season and is struggling significantly of late, with a 3-7 mark in their last 10 games. Captain Claude Giroux will have to buck two trends – one goal in his last 11 games overall and zero in his last 15 against the Rangers and superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
Flyers goaltender Steve Mason is also coming off of an excellent performance during a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders on Sunday, which he will try to carry over against the Rangers.
The Flyers are 1-9 in their last 10 games as an underdog, as well as 2-8 in their last 10 games as a road underdog, according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
New York is 31-16-1, including 6-4 over their last 10 games. Bolstered by the standout goaltending of Lundqvist and leadership from the likes of McDonagh, the Rangers are 6-4 in their last 10 games as the favorite.
New York has had fewer than 20 shots on goal in each of their past two games, but won both. The Rangers rely on offense by committee and their depth will be compromised with C Kevin Hayes (leg) expected to miss the game. The likes of C Derek Stepan and LW Mats Zuccarello may have to pick up the slack. The Rangers’ power play is also in an 0-for-11 funk.
The Rangers are 2-0 at home against the Flyers this season, and won three of the four games last season when the goalie matchup was Mason against Lundqvist.
The total has gone over in five of the Flyers’ last 10 games. The total has gone under five of the last 10 times the Flyers were an underdog on the road with a moneyline of +140 or greater. The total has gone over in six of the Rangers’ last 10 games. The total has gone under only once in the Rangers’ last 10 home games against their division.