Nevada Sports Betting Revenue Goes Up Yet Down
December 6, 2022Under Further Review for ESPN Sports Gambling
December 6, 2022The New York Rangers visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night in a game that can be seen on TNT. The Rangers have been up and down for the first part of the season and are hovering around the .500 mark, while the Golden Knights have the best record in the Western Conference. The Rangers were home against St. Louis on Monday night and then had Tuesday off, while the Golden Knights were at Boston on Monday night and then had Tuesday off. The Rangers have been a pretty good road team so far this season, going 7-4-1, while the Golden Knights have actually been much better on the road, as they come into this game at just 7-5 at home. Vegas has pretty much owned this series, winning six of the eight previous meetings, with four games going under, two going over, with two pushes. Let’s look at Rangers vs. Golden Knights picks.
Rangers at Golden Knights
Date and Time: Wednesday, December 7, 2022 10:00 p.m. ET
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Opening NHL Odds: Check Back Later
Rangers at Golden Knights TV Coverage: TNT
New York Rangers
The Rangers started this week really struggling and there are some serious questions about this team right now. Head coach Gerard Gallant is now feeling the heat and it is a critical time for New York. The team inexplicably lost to the Blackhawks last week and another bad week could see the team make a coaching change. Remember that this New York team was thought to be a Stanley Cup contender before the season and don’t forget that Barry Trotz is currently waiting in the wings to take over somewhere. The Rangers are averaging just three goals per game which is 20th in the league and they are just 22nd in the league on the power play at just over 20%. They are giving up 2.8 goals per game and they are 5th in penalty killing at just over 82%. Mika Zibanejad leads the team in points, while goaltender Igor Shesterkin leads the team in wins.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are averaging 3.4 goals per game but they are just 17th on the power play at 21.9%. They are giving up just 2.7 goals per game but they are only 23rd on the penalty kill at 75%. Jack Eichel leads the team in points, while goaltender Logan Thompson leads the team in wins.
NHL Betting Trends
As noted earlier, the Golden Knights have done very well in this series, taking eight of the ten previous meetings. Vegas won both meetings last season, winning 3-2 in New York and 5-1 in Vegas. The Golden Knights have won three of the four previous meetings at home against the Rangers with two games going under with two pushes.
NHL Picks
Is this the last stand for Gallant with the Rangers? You would think that wouldn’t be the case, as Gallant was brilliant leading the team a year ago and we know that he can coach. But we also know that New York owner James Dolan is not a patient man and people close to the organization say he is watching the team very closely right now and paying a lot of attention to Gallant. That does not sound like a good situation for Gallant. It would be too bad if Gallant was let go, as he has proven he is a very good head coach. He did an excellent job in Vegas with the Golden Knights and then was inexplicably shown the door. One thing that is clear about this game is that you can’t take the Rangers until they start playing better. There are real chemistry issues with this team and something has to be done. The Golden Knights are the better team, but they haven’t played nearly as well at home as on the road. I still lean with Vegas in this game, but I think the better choice may be the total. This series has been low scoring and each team is playing good defense and gets good goaltending. I’ll go under the total with the Rangers and Golden Knights.
NHL Pick: Under