The last week of hockey season is upon us, so it's time to start focusing on some NHL betting action with the postseason close to beginning.
First off, however, is determining the seeding for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins enter the second of a home-and-home set with the New York Rangers holding a one-point lead over the Montreal Canadiens atop the Eastern Conference. They can't clinch the East in Monday's game in New York, but they can clinch the Atlantic Division (NY is a -135 money line favorite at WagerWeb.com, with an over/under of 5.5).
Pittsburgh has a six-point cushion over the Devils in the Atlantic with three games to play. One win or one regulation loss by the Devils in their final four games will give the Penguins their first division title since 1997-98.
The Canadiens will have a game in hand after Monday, but the Penguins feel they hold the advantage in the race to claim home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"We control our own destiny to win the conference," Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Whitney said. "If we can win out, we finish first in the conference and that's been our goal all year."
The Penguins won the front end of this set on Sunday afternoon, downing the Rangers, 3-1. Evgeni Malkin scored the go-ahead goal late in the first period to give him 104 points (46 goals, 58 assists) on the season, second-most in the league.
Playing in his second game since missing 28 of Pittsburgh's previous 31 contests due to a high ankle sprain, Sidney Crosby posted a pair of assists for the Pens, who have won three straight and five of their last six.
It was the first game that Crosby and Marian Hossa, acquired from the Thrashers at the trade deadline, had played on the same line."Yeah, it's been kind of tough," said Crosby, who assisted on a Hossa goal. "But we're going to continue to get better, I think. The chemistry's there, we've just got to make sure we take advantage of our chances."Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, meanwhile, has won his last seven starts while posting a 1.14 goals- gainst average. He hasn't allowed more than two goals in any of those wins and is 2-1-1 with a 2.25 goals-against average in four starts vs. the Rangers this year.
With four games left, the Rangers can still finish anywhere from the fourth spot in the crowded East -- which would give them home-ice advantage for a playoff series for the first time since 1995-96 -- to out of the playoffs entirely.
New York's loss in Pittsburgh was just the third time it had lost in regulation in its last 21 games. And it was the first time the Rangers failed to gain a point in six games.
Scoring has been a problem for the Rangers all season -- only two Eastern Conference teams have scored fewer than their 203 goals.
They're 5-3-2 over their last 10 games, but have put up just 18 goals in that stretch, including a combined two by Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury, who are tied for the team lead with 23 goals apiece.
Henrik Lundqvist has been stellar in net, however. He's 6-3-1 with a 1.76 GAA in his last 10 starts. Lundqvist has been in goal for all seven games against Pittsburgh this season, going 4-3-0 with a 2.00 GAA. The Rangers have won all three games against the Penguins at Madison Square Garden, outscoring them 13-4.
Betting trends: PIT is 43-36 ATS overall. PIT is 8-2 in its last 10 vs. Atlantic. ... Under is 20-8-3 in PIT's last 31 Monday games. ... Over is 7-3 in PIT's last 10 road games. ... NYR are 38-40 ATS overall. ... Under is 8-2-1 in NYR's last 11 overall. ... Under is 19-7-2 in NYR's last 28 Monday games. ... NYR are 18-8 in their last 26 vs. Atlantic. ... Home team is 16-5 in the last 21 meetings between these two teams. ... Under is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings.
The last word: Look at that home record in this series. Hard not to like the Rangers tonight.
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