The Florida Panthers keep hanging up crooked numbers on offense, but they will be tested tonight when they take on Vezina Trophy frontrunner Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers.
The Panthers are playing on the second half of a back-to-back, with their backup goaltender expected to start, yet are still NHL betting road favorites against a New York side that has one of the league's better home records.
Does that make the Rangers a viable underdog play? Get our thoughts with our free NHL betting picks and predictions for Panthers vs. Rangers on Tuesday, February 1.
Panthers vs Rangers odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
This line opened Florida -156/New York +138 and at the time of writing is still around that range — this is in between the previous two meetings this season, when New York closed at +104 at home in early November (with this same expected goalie matchup) and +168 at Florida in late December. The previous two meetings closed at a total of 6, and tonight we're currently looking at a 6.5 shaded to the Under.
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.
Panthers vs Rangers predictions
Predictions made on 2/01/2022 at 10:03 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Panthers vs Rangers game info
• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022
• Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN+/Hulu
Panthers vs Rangers betting preview
Key injuries
Panthers: Patric Hornqvist RW (Out).
Rangers: Adam Fox D (Out), Patrik Nemeth D (Out), Filip Chytil C (Out), Kaapo Kakko RW (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Panthers vs Rangers head-to-head record
Panthers: 1-1-0, 7 goals for.
Rangers: 1-1-0, 7 goals for.
Betting trend to know
The Over is 6-0 in the last six head-to-head meetings in New York. Find more NHL betting trends for Panthers vs. Rangers.
Panthers vs Rangers picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Moneyline analysis
The Panthers are currently sitting at the top of the NHL standings, simply by bludgeoning their opponents on a nightly basis. After dropping eight goals on Columbus last night, that marks four straight games with 4+ goals for Florida and an insane 14 of its previous 17 games hitting at least four goals.
Florida is averaging 5.12 goals per game during this stretch, which dates back to December 29. It's a result of a deep, talented roster that runs four lethal lines and is smothering at 5-on-5 (seventh-best Corsi For Percentage, highest expected goals for per 60 minutes, first in scoring chances for per 60, high-danger chances for per 60, and shooting percentage, per Natural Stat Trick) and a power play that is converting at 28.6% (fifth in NHL during this span).
Now, it's unlikely Florida scores eight goals tonight against Igor Shesterkin, who has won 12 straight games at MSG — with a 1.71 goals-against average, .950 save percentage, and 15.38 goals saved above average — and has given up four goals or more just three times in 28 starts this season, but this is still not a matchup in favor of the Blueshirts.
For as dominant as Florida has been at 5 on 5 over this last month, the Rangers have been equally awful, sitting dead last in the league in CF%, with the fourth-highest expected goals against per 60, third-most scoring chances against per 60, and the most high-danger chances against per 60. New York has been brutally outplayed its last two games, with just 36.2% of all shot attempts in a home loss to Minnesota and getting outshot 42-24 in a home win against Seattle (the third-worst team in the league), and Shesterkin's brilliance has been the reason they even came away with one win.
Even the Rangers penalty kill, which has been one of the league's better units all season, has struggled lately, conceding a goal in four straight games and six of its last seven outings.
The Rangers have played the Panthers twice, winning 4-3 at home and losing 4-3 at Florida, but Moneypuck calculated that the Panthers likely win the first game 68.1% of the time (based on 1,000 simulations) and the second game 68.7% of the time, as Florida outshot the Rangers a combined 77-51 in the two games — and the third match will see New York without star defenseman Adam Fox, who is on the IR with an upper-body injury.
Florida is firing on all cylinders right now, while the Rangers look downright dreadful in front of Shesterkin. With the Panthers holding a brutally lopsided edge in 5-on-5 play and boasting a buzzing power play against a struggling New York PK unit, it's going to take a superhuman effort from Igor to keep the Rangers in this game... and even that might not be enough.
The Panthers are rightfully juiced pretty high on the moneyline but taking Florida to win in regulation gets us the Panthers at plus money — an incredible value we'd happily jump on.
Prediction: Panthers 3-way moneyline (+105)
Over/Under analysis
During this 17-game offensive outburst for Florida, the Over is 13-4 as the Panthers are giving up 2.71 goals against per game, including surrendering 3+ goals in four of their previous five contests.
New York has also scored at least three goals in seven of its last nine games and will be facing backup Spencer Knight, who has given up just one goal in each of his last two starts but still has a 3.16 GAA and .899 SV% on the season.
Each of the previous two head-to-head matchups went for seven goals, while the last six meetings and 20 of the previous 28 have cashed the Over.
We're banking on another high-scoring affair tonight.
Prediction: Over 6.5 (+100)
Best bet
As mentioned above, Florida is consistently generating a lot of quality scoring chances, both at 5 on 5 and on the power play, but it is also getting a ton of pucks on net in general.
The Panthers are third in the NHL with 37.2 shots per game over the last month, with star center Aleksander Barkov leading the charge with 64 sog in those 17 games (3.76 per game) and registering at least 4 sog in seven straight contests.
The Rangers have given up 33.7 spg during their last 10 games and allowed a whopping 45 shots to the Panthers in their previous meeting at MSG.
As we expect the Panthers to dominate possession and shot generation again tonight — especially with New York missing star blueliner Adam Fox — we're banking on Barkov to go Over his shots prop again this evening.
Pick: Aleksander Barkov Over 3.5 shots on goal (-105)
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