Lightning vs. Rangers Game 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs Odds and Preview – June 1st, 2022

By Hank Blaine • May 31, 2022

The Lightning and the Rangers both finished the regular seaLightning vs. Rangers Game 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs Odds – June 1st, 2022 | Nitrobetting BTC Sportsbookson with 110 points but the Rangers get home-ice advantage in the series because they won all three games vs. Tampa Bay. The clubs last played on March 19 and the Rangers won 2-1 in Tampa. Mika Zibanejad scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 16 seconds left in the third period. Jacob Trouba also scored and Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots for New York. Brayden Point scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 25 saves for the Lightning. The Rangers swept the season series (3-0) for the first time since 2012-13.

The New York Rangers sent the Carolina Hurricanes home and ended the series four to three. They take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who return to this stage of the playoffs for three straight years. The Rangers finished the regular season as the second-best team in the Metropolitan Division. They took down the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes to reach the Eastern Conference Final. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay beat Toronto in the first round, followed by a clean 4-0 sweep of the Florida Panthers in the conference semifinals.

Nitrobetting preps you for the NHL Conference Finals clash in this Lightning vs. Rangers Game 1 preview. We share helpful insights that cover team and player stats and the latest NHL betting odds. You can also find timely betting trends and predictions that point you in the right direction.

Lightning vs. Rangers Game 1 Information

Rangers vs. Lightning Eastern Conference Final preview. Game 1 in New York on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS). https://t.co/x7rU1UfAnS
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) May 31, 2022

When: Wednesday, June 1, 2022, 8:00 PM ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
TV: ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS
Radio: 970 WFLA AM (Lightning) // ESPN New York 98.7FM (Rangers)
Live Stream: NHL Live
NHL Betting Odds: Lightning (-125) / Rangers (+104)

Why Bet on the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Tampa Bay has been off since eliminating Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida 2-0 on May 23 to sweep that series. Ondrej Palat came out of the penalty box and scored the insurance goal into the empty net for the Lightning. Palat jumped out of the penalty box and found himself all alone after a clearing shot from Anthony Cirelli bounced off the boards and in front of the net to a wide-open Palat. It was his fourth goal of the postseason, giving Palat eight points in 11 games.

Pat Maroon scored the first Tampa Bay goal. The game was scoreless heading into the third period as the Lightning had a pair of second period goals called back after review. Andrei Vasilevskiy was perfect in stopping all 49 shots against the NHL’s top regular-season offense. The Panthers threw everything but the kitchen sink at Vasilevskiy all game as Florida outshot Tampa Bay 18-3 in the first, 16-12 in the second and 15-10 in the final stanza, but could not beat the Lightning netminder.

After a tough first five games against Toronto, Vasilevskiy has shown why he is the best goalie in the world in the last six games as he has been a perfect 6-0, giving up only seven goals on 218 shots. He was especially amazing against Florida, giving up only three goals in four games on 154 shots.

The Lightning played the Panthers series without excellent forward Brayden Point. Point was injured in the first period of Game 7 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 14. The forward was chasing a puck to the boards in the offensive zone when Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano tried to get a stick on the puck and Point’s right leg twisted as he slid in the wall. Point returned to the game before leaving and hasn’t played or practiced since. It doesn’t sound as if Point will play in the opener of this series but could get back at some point during it.

Point has four points (two goals, two assists) in seven playoff games. He led the NHL in playoff goals each of the past two seasons, scoring 14 in each to help the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, and was second in points (56) behind teammate Nikita Kucherov (66).

Nikita Kucherov leads Tampa Bay in points. He recorded 15 points, featuring four goals and 11 assists. Left-winger Ross Colton leads the team in goals with five, while Kucherov maintains the team-high assists number at 11. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been playing well for his team, racking up 343 saves in 11 playoff games. He has a.932 save percentage and allowed 25 goals in 368 shots.

As a team, the Lightning scored 11 power-play goals in the playoffs. They share the third-best record with the Edmonton Oilers and are behind the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers in this department. Tampa Bay registers a 22.9% power-play percentage, which nearly rivals the Rangers. Additionally, the team averages 3.27 goals on a 10.6 shooting percentage.

Why Bet on the New York Rangers?

Carolina had been unbeaten at home in these playoffs but was upset in Raleigh 6-2 on Monday as the Rangers advanced to their first conference final since 2015 – when they lost to the Lightning. Chris Kreider scored a pair of goals to lead the Rangers Monday. Kreider has been something special in Game 7’s as he now has 15 goals in decisive games, one behind the all-time mark in Game 7’s held by the great Mark Messier. Kreider has eight goals in the post-eason, as well as 11 points in 14 games as he is showing why he was a 52-goal scorer in the NHL this season.

Blueliner Adam Fox scored on the power play and added an assist in the win. Fox has two power play goals and eight assists with the man-advantage after not scoring at all in the regular season on the power play, although he did manage 33 assists. Fox has five goals and 18 points in 14 Stanley Cup playoff games.

Igor Shesterkin turned aside 36-of-38 shots in the win. Shesterkin was the difference this series as he was outstanding, especially in the last two games, as he stopped 73-of-77 shots in two New York wins. Shesterkin is 8-6 in the postseason with a 2.68 GAA and a .927 save percentage. The Rangers still aren’t an impressive five-on-five team, relying on Shesterkin to bail them out at even strength, which he has.

They rallied to beat the Penguins after being down 3-1 in their first-round series. They rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 series deficits to defeat the Hurricanes. New York holds the upper hand in goals, by not by much. The team averages 3.43 goals per game on a 10.6 shooting percentage. Additionally, the team features a 32.5% power-play percentage and scored 13 power-play goals in the playoffs.

“I’ve kind of referred to us as cockroaches. We just didn’t go away. That’s always been ingrained in the culture of every good team I’ve been on here. We just don’t go away, regardless of the score and regardless of where the game is. We just keep on trying to find our game and playing for each other,” said Kreider.

Lightning vs. Rangers Betting Trends

Lightning are 6-0 in their last 6 overall.
Lightning are 42-20 in their last 62 games playing on 3 or more days rest.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay’s last 5 games.
Rangers are 5-2 in their last 7 Wednesday games.
Rangers are 9-4 in their last 13 after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game.
TThe total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers’ last 7 games.

Lightning vs. Rangers Expert Betting Predictions

The Rangers were in trouble in the early stages of the playoffs. They almost fell in the hands of both the Penguins and the Hurricanes. However, Igor Shesterkin and the special teams pulled more tricks out of their sleeves and survived the series to win back-to-back Game 7s. They need to be more creative to get past Tampa Bay, though. This is an experienced side that can easily dominate once they find momentum. If New York allows Tampa Bay to set the tempo, it won’t be the same storyline as the first two rounds for the hosts. New York can keep things close and cover the spread at least, but the Lightning will have the upper hand entering the series.

We are in for an interesting pairing in the Conference Finals. Ultimately, we expect surprising elements to come our way as soon as the series takes off.

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*All odds stated are subject to change without prior notice.