New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, Preview and Odds - 06/05/2022

Game Time: 3:00 pm ET, Sunday, June 5, 2022

Venue:  Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

Where to Watch:  ESPN

DraftKings:  Moneyline:  Rangers +150, Lightning -170; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

Bet365:  Moneyline:  Rangers +150, Lightning -170; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  Rangers +150, Lightning -170; Over/Under:  5.5 goals

 

New York Rangers:  52-24-6 (2nd place, Metropolitan Division)

Tampa Bay Lightning:  51-23-8 (3rd place, Atlantic Division)

 

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New York Rangers:  7-2-1 last 10

Tampa Bay Lightning:  7-3-0 last 10

 

 

 

The Rangers are coming into this game finishing the regular season with 110 points, a 52-24-6 record overall, and they are 25-14-2 in their home games this regular season where they will be in this game. They have won 6 of their last 7 games and are coming into this one on a 4 game winning streak. Their last loss was against the Carolina Hurricanes in game 5 of their last series while their 6 wins in that span came against the Hurricanes in game 3, game 4, game 6, game 7 and against the Lightning in game 1 and in their last game which was also game 2 of this series. They won that game at home 3-2. Kaapo Kakko, Mika Zibanejad, and K'Andre Miller each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Artemi Panarin led the team in shots on net in that game with 5. Igor Shesterkin was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 2 goals on 31 shots with 29 saves and a .935 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 254 goals this season averaging 3.1 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 207 goals against them allowing 2.5 goals per game. 

 

 

 

The Lightning are coming into this game finishing the regular season with 110 points, a 51-23-8 record overall, and they were 27-8-6 in their road games this regular season where they will be in this game. They are coming into this game on a 2 game winning streak. Their last win was against the Florida Panthers in game 4 of their last series while their 2 losses since then have come against the New York Rangers in game 1 and in their last game which was also game 2 of this series. They lost that game on the road 3-2. Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul each scored 1 goal for them in that one. Nick Paul led the team in shots on net in that game with 4. Andrei Vasilevskiy was the starting goalie in that game and he allowed 3 goals on 28 shots with 25 saves and a .893 sv percentage. Their offense has scored 287 goals this season averaging 3.5 goals per game and their defense has allowed their opponents to score 233 goals against them allowing 2.8 goals per game.  

 

 

The Rangers are coming into this game as an underdog with the current betting odds. The Rangers have a 2-0 lead in the series going to Tampa for these next two games but defending champions or not, the Rangers still have a 5-0 record against the Lightning this season including 3 regular season games against them and the 2 playoff games now. We called the Rangers in both of those games to start this series and we are going right back to the well with the Rangers here again. This is not the same Lightning team that won the cup 2 straight seasons. The Lightning have been getting older each year and they are going up against a Rangers team that is much younger than them here and has the energy to give it their all in every game and go toe-to-toe with the Lightning in this series. The Lightning were also very dominant both years they won the cup as they were top of the NHL in 1 season and a top 3 team in the other. They were not even a top 3 team in the Eastern Conference this season and the Rangers actually had a better record as they had more wins despite having the same number of points. The Lightning have breezed through all of their series over the last few years as well and have won most of their series in 5 or 6 games. They were already pushed to the Brink by the Leafs earlier in these playoffs and between the defense and goaltending here, the Lightning have not seen anything like it. They also won both of their cups in messed up seasons, winning 1 in a bubble with a shortened season and the other when the divisions were all mixed up and the fans were just coming back at not even full capacity, and even ended up getting another Eastern team in the finals. This Lightning have not had a full path to the finals during both of their wins and this Rangers team is for real. The best bet here is on the Rangers to win this game.

 

Rangers Lightning Prediction:  Our NHL Pick for Sunday, June 5, 2022 (3:00 pm ET start time) is Rangers 3 Lightning 1.

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New York Rangers: 62-36 (+21.3 Units) ML in all games. 17-10 (+8.8 Units) ML in a road game where the total is 5.5. 19-8 UNDER in a road game where the total is 5.5.

Tampa Bay Lightning: 8-10 (-7.5 Units) ML revenging 2 straight losses where the opponent scored 3 or more goals. 24-17 UNDER in a home game where the total is 5.5. 6-1 UNDER after scoring 2 goals or less in 2 straight games.

 

 

New York Rangers:  K. Kinkaid (G) Out indefinitely - Upper Body. S. Blais (LW) out for season - Knee.

Tampa Bay Lightning:  B. Point (C) Ques Sun - Lower Body. B. Seabrook (D) out for season - Shoulder.

 

 

 

“It's a huge win for us, but we just get ready for the next one. They way we played the last two games, that's the way we're going to have to play to win the series. We want to battle hard, we want to compete hard and we've been a tough out so far.” - Gerard Gallant after his team’s win against the Lightning in game 2 on Friday.

 

 

“We haven’t executed the proper way that got us here. They are a skilled team and make you pay. We found some momentum at the end. We have to carry that over.” - Steven Stamkos after their loss against the Rangers in game 2 on Friday.

 

 

 

LW Kreider, Chris

C Zibanejad, Mika

RW Vatrano, Frank

LD Lindgren, Ryan

RD Fox, Adam

G Shesterkin, Igor

 

LW Palat, Ondrej

C Cirelli, Anthony

RW Kucherov, Nikita

LD Hedman, Victor

RD Rutta, Jan

G Vasilevskiy, Andrei

 

 

Points: A. Panarin (96)

Goals: C. Kreider (52)

Assists: A. Panarin (74)

GAA: I. Shesterkin (2.07)

 

Points: S. Stamkos (106)

Goals: S. Stamkos (42)

Assists: V. Hedman (65)

GAA: B. Elliott (2.43)

 

Coaches:

New York Rangers: Gerard Gallant (1st season)

Tampa Bay Lightning: Jon Cooper (10th season)