The Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers have their tightest moneyline in nearly two full seasons going into Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series on Tuesday night.
Game 4 of the series is a toss-up with the Canadiens and Rangers each listed at -115 on the moneyline with a total of five goals, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. It’s the closest the two “Original Six” clubs have been in pregame odds since a game early last season. Montreal has had the Rangers’ number, going 8-2 in the teams’ last 10 matchups.
The Canadiens, who lead the best-of-seven series 2-1, are excelling at limiting the Rangers’ team speed and easing the burden on franchise goalie Carey Price. Montreal’s forwards, including Alexander Radulov, are doing a good job of generating offense but have been largely stifled by Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist so far in the series.
The Rangers, who are just 2-8 in their last 10 home games, have yet to receive a goal in the series from either Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller or Derek Stepan, three of their top four scorers during the regular season.
The total has gone UNDER in six of Montreal’s last 10 road playoff games. The total has gone UNDER in seven of Montreal’s last 10 road games against Metropolitan Division teams. The total has also gone UNDER in seven of the Rangers’ last 10 home games against Atlantic Division teams.
Despite being on the brink of elimination, the host Columbus Blue Jackets (-115) still rate a good chance of defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in their Game 4 matchup on Tuesday night. The Penguins and Sidney Crosby have had a proclivity for starting slowly, but are 6-4 in their last 10 divisional road games and sit on the verge of a sweep in the first round.
Columbus is an identical 6-4 in its last 10 home games against the Penguins and has shown it can compete with Pittsburgh, but still, it has to recover from a deflating Game 3 loss and adapt to losing defenseman Zach Werenski (facial injuries).
The total has gone OVER in seven of the Penguins’ last 10 road games against Columbus. The total has also gone OVER in eight of the Blue Jackets’ last 10 home games in April.
And with Joe Thornton back, the San Jose Sharks (-120) are favored against the Edmonton Oilers for their Game 4 matchup on Tuesday night, trailing 2-1 in the first-round series.
Connor McDavid, goalie Cam Talbot and the Oilers, who took the series lead with a 1-0 road win on Sunday, are 7-3 in their last 10 road games against Pacific Division teams. San Jose and captain Joe Pavelski are unlikely to be shut out for a third consecutive game, but they are an uninspiring 5-5 in their last 10 home games at HP Pavilion.
The total has gone UNDER in seven of the Sharks’ last 10 divisional home games, according to the OddsShark NHL Database.