Edmonton Oilers vs. New York Rangers Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 1/3/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

Where to watch: MSG, SNW, SN1, TVAS, ESPN+, NHL LIVE

DraftKings: Rangers -125, Oilers +105

BetMGM: Rangers -128, Oilers +105

Caesars: Rangers -125, Oilers +105

Oilers: 18-12-2 (4th place, Pacific)

Rangers: 21-8-4 (3rd place, Metro)

Oilers: lost three straight; lost 3-2 at Islanders on Jan. 1

Rangers: won 4-0 vs. Rangers on Sunday

It hasn't been fun to watch the Edmonton Oilers as of late, but Monday might be a good time to turn it around when they visit the New York Rangers.

This SEGABABA for the Rangers could not have been any more difficult on paper. If everyone was healthy, this would be a tough go. But the Rangers took care of business on Sunday in a dominant 4-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Igor Shesterkin pitched a 38-save shutout and outdueled the returning Andrei Vasilevskiy out of COVID protocol. New York's top goalie got the nod against the two-time champs. Alex Georgiev will start for the Rangers on Monday against Connor McDavid and co.

Mika Zibanejad also contributed with a hat trick, picking the goal-scoring up after Artemi Panarin went into COVID protocol earlier in the day. Chris Kreider had three assists while reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox had two.

"When he's been out a couple games here and there … you've got to step up," Zibanejad said. "He scores goals and makes a lot of things in the offensive zone happen. When a guy like that is out, you just want everyone to chip in a little bit more."

But while the Rangers are comfortably playing this back-to-back at home, Georgiev is still the goalie here and he's still giving up 2.87 goals per game and is hovering at a .902 save percentage coming into this matchup. And the last thing you want is a struggling goalie to face McDavid and Leon Draisaitl while struggling.

The Oilers are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on New Year's Day. Draisaitl did score his 25th goal of the season in the loss; he had four all of the month of December after torching the world for 15 goals and 27 points overall in November.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. “That's a hard turnaround when you have back to back in the afternoon. Our guys competed hard right to the end. You could tell we were tired a little bit in the third period, but we hung in there.”

The line would look much larger if the Rangers weren't playing a back-to-back. And if that were the case I'd tell you to grab the underdog with more feeling. The Oilers are going to pick this up eventually, whether it be just a win here or a complete winning streak. If they can't get it done against a tired Rangers club, then maybe wholesale changes need to be thought of in Edmonton. Oilers win 4-3

The Oilers are 1-5 in their past six after scoring two goals or less the previous game.

The Rangers are 8-1 in their last nine when the opponent scores two goals or less the last game.

The Oilers are 5-0 in the last five meetings.

The favorite is 4-1 in the last five.

Oilers:

Zach Hyman -- Connor McDavid -- Jesse Puljujarvi

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto

Warren Foegele -- Derek Ryan -- Colton Sceviour

Devin Shore -- Ryan McLeod -- Tyler Benson

Darnell Nurse -- Evan Bouchard

Duncan Keith -- Cody Ceci

Slater Koekkoek -- Tyson Barrie

Mikko Koskinen

Rangers:

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Kaapo Kakko

Barclay Goodrow -- Ryan Strome -- Dryden Hunt

Alexis Lafreniere -- Filip Chytil -- Julien Gauthier

Morgan Barron -- Greg McKegg -- Ryan Reaves

Libor Hajek -- Adam Fox

K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba

Zac Jones -- Nils Lundkvist

Alexandar Georgiev