The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes meet in Game 3 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference, 2nd-round series Thursday. The Rangers lead 2-0. Puck drop from PNC Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Rangers vs. Hurricanes odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Rangers picked up a 4-3 win as short ‘dogs (+101) in Game 1 as the Over (5.5) cashed. New York had to work a little harder in Game 2, going to double-overtime, before winning 4-3, also with an Over (5.5) result. New York cashed as the underdog (+106) in Game 2, as well.
The Hurricanes have gotten themselves into trouble with penalties. Carolina led 3-2 going into the 3rd period in Game 2, but it allowed a Chris Kreider power-play goal at 6:07 of the final period, and then Vincent Trocheck, a former Cane, notched the winner at 7:24 of 2OT on the man advantage, after Brady Skjei‘s cross-checking infraction.
New York has won 9 of the past 11 meetings in this series, it won the past 4 playoff battles with Carolina, and it is 5-1 in the past 6 meetings (regular season or postseason). New York has also won 4 straight trips to PNC Arena, including Game 7 of the 2022 second-round playoff series.
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Rangers at Hurricanes odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Rangers +140 (bet $100 to win $140) | Hurricanes -165 (bet $165 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Rangers +1.5 (-185) | Hurricanes -1.5 (+150)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Hurricanes at Rangers projected goalies
Igor Shesterkin (6-0-0, 2.01 GAA, .929 SV% in 2024 playoffs) vs. Frederik Andersen (4-3-0, 2.58 GAA, .899 SV% in 2024 playoffs)
Shesterkin turned aside 54 of the 57 shots he faced in the Game 2 marathon, and he has stopped 76 of the 82 shots he has seen in this series. The Rangers backstop has gone 13 consecutive Games since March 26 in the regular season, allowing 3 or fewer goals.
Andersen allowed 4 goals in Game 1, his most since the second regular-season game at Los Angeles back in early October. Now, he has yielded 4 goals in each of the past 2 playoff games. He has to be much better, or the Canes won’t be long for this series.
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Hurricanes at Rangers picks and predictions
Prediction
Hurricanes 3, Rangers 2
Moneyline
The Hurricanes (-165) have struggled over the years with the Rangers (+140), dropping 9 of the past 11 meetings. New York is the kryptonite for Rod Brind’Amour’s bunch.
The Canes have gotten themselves into trouble with penalties, and they’ll have to be a lot more disciplined. Carolina is too risky to play at this price, given the domination of New York in the past couple of years. But a couple of bounces, and some smarter play, and the Canes could easily have gained a road split at MSG.
It’s not like the Rangers have dominated. But, they have done enough to win, and that’s what matters in the playoffs.
PASS.
Puck line/Against the spread
The RANGERS +1.5 (-185) are a little on the expensive side, but the way they have played against the Hurricanes -1.5 (+150) for the past 2-plus seasons, they’re the play.
New York won the first 2 games as an outright underdog, and it won 1-0 in the most recent skate at PNC Arena in the regular season. The underdog has cashed in 11 straight meetings in this series, too.
Over/Under
UNDER 5.5 (-110) is a risk, quite frankly, as we had exactly 7 goals in each of the first 2 games.
However, as the series treads along, these teams build hate for each other, the offensive chances will get fewer and further between, the physicality, hitting and rough stuff will pick up, and the goaltending will be much better, too.
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