Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers Prediction, 4/8/2021 NHL Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Penguins vs New York Rangers

Date: Thursday, April 8, 2021

Location: Madison Square Garden in New York, NY

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Penguins (-105) Rangers (-111)

Madison Square Garden is the site where Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers (18-15-5) will play the Pittsburgh Penguins (24-13-2) on Thursday. The Penguins open this contest at -105 while the Rangers are priced at -111. The total is set at 6.5.

The Penguins will look to clean up some issues after taking a 8-4 loss against the Rangers in the last game they played. The Penguins had a good offensive outing in this loss. In the game, they converted 4 out of the 45 shots they launched. Furthermore, they had 3 power play attempts and were able to notch 1 goal. Pittsburgh tallied 10 penalty minutes in this outing. The Corsi for the Penguins was sitting at 59 and the Corsi against when the final whistle blew was 29 which means they had a Corsi rate of 67.0%. Their Fenwick came in at 45 and the Fenwick against was 24, giving them a Fenwick percentage of 65.2%. They compiled 27 face-off wins at even strength and were beaten on 21 attempts to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them were rated at 68.1% and they had a PDO of 84.4 for this matchup.

Pittsburgh Penguins opponents have earned 118 power play opportunities (14th in professional hockey) and have come away with 28 goals in those chances. The Penguins have had 1,160 shots attempted against them and have a save percentage of .905. Pittsburgh has taken 1,159 shots and holds a shooting percentage of 11.0%. While playing at even strength, the Penguins have allowed 82 goals while notching 103 on the offensive side of the ice. Pittsburgh is sitting with 113 power play chances and they have notched 24 goals out of those attempts, earning them a rate of 21.24%. For the current campaign, they have racked up 50 points and their points percentage is sitting at .641. When discussing their scoring, the Pittsburgh Penguins have tallied 127 goals (6th in the National Hockey League) for the season and have conceded 110.

The man protecting the net in this game is Tristan Jarry. Over the course of his time in hockey, Jarry has earned 50 quality starts and his percentage for quality starts is .602. His save percentage currently sits at .912 in his 4,911 minutes in the crease. Jarry has seen 2,502 shot attempts taken against him and he has 2,281 saves. The opposition has scored 221 goals against Jarry in his professional career and his goals against average per contest is 2.70. He has compiled a mark of 49-28-6 and he has gotten the start in 83 games. Jarry has been involved in 88 contests over the course of his NHL career.

In their win over Pittsburgh, New York had a PDO of 116 and they finished the game with an oZS percentage of 31.9%. They had 3 opportunities on the power play in this outing and notched 3 out of those tries. Their Fenwick rate came in at 34.8% by accumulating a Fenwick of 24 and the Penguins having notched a 45 Fenwick. The Rangers netted 8 goals out of the 25 shots on goal they were seeking. New York earned a 33.0% Corsi rate. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game New York played and it was a good performance overall.

The Rangers have tallied 97 goals at even strength and 27 goals (11th in the league) while on the power play. New York has taken 1,120 shots (22nd in the league) and has accumulated a shot percentage of 11.07%, while allowing their opponents 1,100 shots. So far this year, the New York Rangers have earned a total of 124 goals, 41 points, as well as a points percentage of .539. They have recorded 137 power play opportunities and they have a power play percentage of 19.71%. They have earned a penalty kill rate of 84.62% on their opponents 117 power play opportunities, and their save percentage currently sits at 90.8%. They have granted a total of 101 goals to be scored by of a combination of 83 goals at even strength and 18 goals while they had less men on the ice.

Across the ice you will find Igor Shesterkin defending the net. He is sitting with 952 saves out of the 1,027 shots attempted against him, giving him a save % of .927. Shesterkin has compiled a career record of 20-10-2 and has participated in 33 games. He has been a starter 31 games and has played 1,863 mins. Shesterkin's quality start percentage is 74.2% and he has 23 quality starting assignments in his NHL career. His opponents are averaging 2.42 goals per game and he has given up 75 goals overall.

Who will win tonight's hockey game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (-105)

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