Round 1 of the 2022 battle of New York was a definitive victory for the Islanders, who thumped the cross-town rival Rangers 4-0 Thursday night as underdogs.
For Saturday's rematch, NHL betting odds are favoring the Islanders to make it two straight wins over the Blueshirts, with the total set at 5.5.
Will the Isles grind the Rags down again, or will the Rangers show some signs of life and rebound? Find out as we give you our best free Islanders vs. Rangers picks and predictions for December 16, with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.
New York Islanders at New York Rangers Betting Preview
Injuries
Islanders: Sebastian Aho D (Questionable).
Rangers: Kevin Rooney F (Questionable).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting Trend to Know
The Islanders are 10-3 in the last 13 head-to-head meetings at Madison Square Garden. Find more NHL betting trends for Islanders vs. Rangers.
Moneyline Pick
The Rangers came into the season with a lot of hype, boasting plenty of top-end offensive talent, promising young players throughout the entire roster and, oh yes, 2020 No. 1-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere. And all it took was one game for the humbling effect of reality to set in.
The Blueshirts were thoroughly outplayed by their NYC counterparts Thursday night in a 4-0 shellacking at the hands of the Islanders. The Rangers came out brutally flat – trailing 3-0 barely halfway through the first period – and played sloppy, undisciplined hockey, giving the Isles a whopping eight powerplay opportunities. They also struggled in the faceoff dot (winning just 41.2 percent of draws), committed too many careless turnovers, and consistently gave the Islanders high-quality scoring chances from just in front of the net—where two of their four goals were scored.
Meanwhile, it was more of the same for the Islanders: fight, grind, get a lead, and then use suffocating defense to snuff out any hope for their opponent. There's a reason they went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and Barry Trotz's group picked right back up this season, physically out-working and manhandling the Rangers on Thursday.
The loss, coupled with a bubble sweep to Carolina in the qualification round last year, puts the Rangers at 0-4 in games with no fans in the stands. It's concerning for the Rangers that the problems which haunted them last season were all-too-prevalent in the season opener, and while things will get better...they're not going to change overnight.
The Islanders should not expect to get eight more powerplays on Saturday, nor should they expect the Rangers to come out of the gates as discombobulated as they were in the opener. That said, they're still the more defensively-responsible team, the more physical team—and, currently, the better team.
The Rangers will eventually win a game in an empty stadium. It just won't be tonight.
PREDICTION: Islanders ML (-115)
Over/Under Pick
If you couldn't tell from the write-up above, the Rangers were B-A-D on Thursday. The shutout loss already means the Blueshirts were blanked more times this season than the previous campaign, but that also means we shouldn't expect the likes of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad & Co. to stay off the scoresheet very often.
Thursday's game was the perfect script for the Islanders as they could just sit back and chew up the game, although the Rangers were more "competitive" in the latter periods. The excessive amount of penalties also prevented Rangers coach David Quinn from deploying his lines with any consistency or build any momentum within the game.
The Over is 5-2 in the Rangers' last seven games coming off losses of three or more goals, so we're expecting a more-spirited effort from the league's fifth-highest scoring team last year. That means the Rags will put a couple of goals on the board, while the Islanders should still be able to capitalize on the Blueshirts' defensive lapses and inability to win the one-on-one physical battles.
The total was set at 6 for Thursday's game and in light of the 4-0 result, Saturday's total is set at 5.5. While recent team trends point Under, we're going with the contrarian play and banking on the Rangers showing that offensive potential to push this over a low total.
PREDICTION: Over 5.5 (-130)
Islanders vs Rangers Betting Card
- Islanders ML (-115)
- Over 5.5 (-130)
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