NHL Picks: New York Rangers vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Saturday, 29 December 2007

After losing three in a row of NHL Picks the New York Rangers finally won a game and look to make it two wins in a row when they travel to play the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last season the Rangers did make the playoffs winning their first round versus Atlanta and then losing in six games to Buffalo. Thus far this season they haven’t played up to last years success going only 18-15-0-4. On thing that got the Rangers into the playoffs was the fact that they had no problems putting the puck in the net. However, this season has been a totally different story as New York ranks dead last in scoring averaging 2.27 goals per game. In the off season the Rangers signed goaltender Henrik Lumdqvist after the Rangers finished second in the league in goals against and it appears to have paid off as they rank 6^th overall this season. BetUS.com has the Rangers listed as a -115 favorite on the money line.

The Toronto Maple Leafs missed the playoffs for the second straight season with most saying it was due to multiple injuries to key players. In fact, Toronto lost 335 man-games to injury. The biggest problem for the Maple Leafs last season was their defense as they ranked 25^th in the league. This season hasn’t gotten any better as they ranked 26^th giving up an average of 3.03 goals per game. They have not faired well in the penalty killing department either as they rank 19^th in the league. Toronto has also been horrible in holding on to a lead this year as they sit dead last winning only 66% of their games when leading after two periods. This will be the fourth meeting with the Rangers this season while they have won two of the first three.

With a two game losing streak things seem to point in Toronto’s direction in this one as the New York Rangers are 5-11 ATS after having lost 2 of their last 3 games this season. However, before jumping on the Maple Leafs consider they are 4-12 ATS in home games when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

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