Pavel Buchnevich and his new St. Louis Blues teammates come into Madison Square Garden as one of the hottest teams in the NHL, going 6-0-1 in their last seven contests, but if they want to stay hot, they’ll have to find a way to score on the best goaltender in the league, Igor Shesterkin.
The New York Rangers are coming off a very poor performance on home ice with backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev between the pipes. It's safe to say that the Blueshirts will be happy to have Shesterkin back in net tonight.
We dive into the Rangers' chances at picking up a bounce-back win in our free NHL betting picks and predictions for Wednesday, March 2.
Blues vs Rangers odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
The New York Rangers opened as +112 home underdogs, but the line has moved to a pick 'em, due to these teams being pretty evenly matched. The total started at 5.5 and hasn't seen any movement at the time of this writing.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right until puck drop and be sure to check out the full NHL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Blues vs Rangers predictions
Predictions made on 3/2/2022 at 8:25 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Blues vs Rangers game info
• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
• Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2022
• Puck drop: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: TNT
Blues vs Rangers betting preview
Key injuries
Blues: Oskar Sundqvist F (Questionable), Marco Scandella D (Out), Scott Perunovich D (Out).
Rangers: Filip Chytil F (Likely), Patrik Nemeth D (Likely), Sammy Blais (Out), Kaapo Kakko F (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Blues vs Rangers head-to-head record (Since 2017-18)
Blues: 4-2-0 SU, 18 goals for.
Rangers: 2-3-1 SU, 13 goals for.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 5-1 in the Rangers' last 6 games. Find more NHL betting trends for Blues vs. Rangers.
Blues vs Rangers picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
The Blues have had a very strong and consistent season on both ends of the ice. They come into the World’s Most Famous arena with the fifth-best offense and sixth-best defense in the NHL. They don't get intimidated in opposing buildings as they are 13-8-4 as visitors this year. In fact, they've won their last three straight road games, all in arenas that aren’t typically easy to play in. They defeated Toronto, Philadelphia, and Chicago by a combined score of 14-4, but none of those opponents had a goaltender as strong as Igor Shesterkin.
The Blues offense might be buzzing at the moment, but they have a very tough challenge tonight. Shesterkin has far and away been the best goalie in the league this season and has been the Rangers' backbone. The Rangers are coming off a very lackluster performance on home ice, as they were defeated by the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Sunday night. The score did not reflect how the game was played as both teams had 33 shots on goal and the Rangers actually had more expected goals than Vancouver. New York’s backup, Alexandar Georgiev did not have his best showing, allowing four goals in the first two periods, which put the Rangers in a 4-0 hole.
The Rangers' lack of ability to score goals at 5-on-5 has been getting exposed as of late, although, they were able to score two goals in the final frame of that loss to the Canucks. Despite their 5-on-5 offensive struggles, the Rangers power play has been nothing short of spectacular. They have the fifth-best man advantage as they are converting on a 25.3% rate, although they did struggle on Sunday against the Canucks going a rare 0 for 3 against the league’s worst penalty-killing unit.
As good as the Rangers have been on the power play this season, the Blues have been even better. St. Louis has the second-best PP, converting at a 27% clip. Their No. 1 unit is loaded with talent with Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn, Vladimir Tarasenko, and the quarterback, Torey Krug. The Blues have been firing on all cylinders in the offensive end as they have scored 13 goals in their last three games. Former Ranger, Pavel Buchnevich has fit in very nicely in the Blues' top six as he is currently third on the team in scoring with 19 goals and 27 assists in 46 games.
It should be noted that the Rangers are 5-0 in their last five games following a loss of three or more goals, but there is no denying the fact that the Blues have been the better team as of late.
Prediction: Blues ML (-101)
Over/Under analysis
As good as both teams have been offensively and on the power play, they each have a top ten goaltender in the league. Shesterkin is the leader of the pack when it comes to the Vezina conversation right now. Shesterkin is 25-6-3 with a ridiculous .941 save percentage and 1.95 goals-against average. He also has the number one goals saved above expected, leading the way with a +31.1 rating. Shesterkin is not only being talked about for the Vezina, but MVP whispers are starting to rise to the surface. The Rangers allow the ninth-most high-danger chances against per 60 minutes, averaging 12.37 against, but Shesterkin is always there to shut the door.
Blues head coach Craig Berube has a very difficult decision to make tonight. Ville Husso has been one of the top netminders in the league, but Jordan Binnington got the start in their last game on Sunday and pitched a 30-save shutout. Goaltending decisions aren’t always so difficult for coaches, but Husso has been the clear-cut better goalie all season. Binnington has been solid this season, going 13-10-3 with a .904 SV% and a 3.12 GAA. Husso’s numbers have been so much better as he is 13-3-2 with a .935 SV% and is ranked sixth with a +16.4 GSAx.
Both teams rely heavily on their power play for offensive production. At 5-on-5 play, the Blues rank 15th as they are only expected to score 2.41 goals while the Rangers rank 28th, expected to score 2.22 goals. If both teams play a disciplined game and stay out of the box, we shouldn’t see many 5-on-5 goals. As good as their power-play units might be, both teams also rank in the top ten in penalty-kill percentage. The Blues are fourth, converting at an 85% rate and the Rangers are seventh, killing off 82.7% of their penalties.
This will be a very tight battle between two very even teams.
Prediction: Under 5.5 (-105)
Best bet
There is no doubt that the focus of this game will be the goaltenders. Anytime Shesterkin starts, it's much-watch television. This guy has been nothing short of incredible and he hasn't allowed more than three goals in one game since November 6 against the Calgary Flames. As good as St. Louis has been on offense, the Rangers have the defensive strength to limit production. With the Rangers struggling at 5-on-5, if the Blues focus on staying out of the box, they won’t need to be worried about the Rangers finding twine with regularity.
The biggest question leading up to this game is who will start in net for the Blues. Both goalies are competent enough to win but do you go with the guy who’s feeling confident (Binnington) or do you go with the reliable option (Husso)?. This game has all the ingredients for an elite goalie battle and whoever does get the nod for the Blues will bring their A-game, knowing that they are going up against possible Vezina winner Shesterkin.
Pick: Under 5.5 (-105)
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