The New York Rangers are quickly garnering a reputation as the team to watch for 2020-21. They were up and down through the first half of the season thanks to a leaky defense, but over the past two months the Blueshirts have been trending up.
The Rangers likely left themselves too much to do to get into the playoffs this season, but they're thriving in the spoiler role, going 7-3-0 in their past 10 games.
The Blueshirts visit the Hurricanes on Friday night.
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New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes Odds
Rangers odds: +140
Hurricanes odds: -165
Over/Under: 6
Time: 7 p.m. ET
The Carolina Hurricanes are trending in the opposite direction. Carolina is still good and is in the middle of the playoff hunt, but the Hurricanes have been a different team since No. 1 defenseman Dougie Hamilton went down with an injury.
Carolina's defense without Hamilton has struggled, allowing 2.9 goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 in its last 10 games. The Hurricanes' goalies haven't been all that sharp, but they aren't getting any help from the team in front of them. The Canes are giving up 2.8 expected goals per 60 minutes (5-on-5) in their last 20 games, the second-worst mark in the NHL in that span.
The Hurricanes are still one of the best teams in the league at going forward, they average the second-most expected goals for per 60 minutes (5-on-5) this season, but their defensive deficiencies have kept them in the pack.
Even with New York's modest improvements on defense, this is a strength vs. strength matchup featuring two of the league's most dynamic offenses.
A couple months ago, I would have expected this line to be closer to Carolina -180 or higher. The Rangers have taken some money, shortening from +160 to +140 or lower in some places, but I still think there's some value on the Blueshirts at that number.
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Around the League
I totally understand if you want to sit it out, but the price on the Detroit Red Wings (+235) is too steep against the banged-up and struggling New York Islanders (-290). Not much else to say about that other than I think Detroit has better than a 33% chance of winning against this lineup.
I'm also looking to play the Minnesota Wild (+100) if they get to +105 or better against the Edmonton Oilers (-120).
The Oilers have impressively stayed the course without Connor McDavid, but the Wild are never an easy out thanks to a terrific defense. I think this game is pretty damn close to 50/50, so I'll hope to get above the even-money mark on Minnesota.
