Feb. 28, 2026, 11:40 a.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Penguins (30-15-2) and the New York Rangers (22-29-7) meet Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Puck drop is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET (ABC). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Penguins vs. Rangers and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.

Season series: Penguins lead 2-1

The Penguins have won 2 of the 3 outings this season, including a 3-0 win at Madison Square Garden Oct. 7 in the regular-season opener for both teams, as G Arturs Silovs had a 25-save shutout and RW Justin Brazeau notched 2 goals. That was the only previous meeting this season at MSG until Saturday’s matinee game.

Pittsburgh resumed play after the Olympic break with a 4-1 win over the visiting New Jersey Devils as moderate favorites (-155) as the Under (6) cashed. Silovs stopped 29 or 30 shots in the win, while C Thomas Novak had a power-play goal. Pittsburgh picked up where it left off, as it is now 9-1-3 in the past 13 games, while the Over has a 4-2 edge in the past 6 outings. They’re without C Sidney Crosby, who suffered a lower-body injury in the Olympics that will cost him a month of downtime.

The Rangers suffered a 3-2 loss in overtime on home ice Thursday as played resumed, with the Under (6) cashing. Fs Sam Carrick and Alex Lafreniere each had goals, and it was 2-0 in favor of the Rangers at one point. G Igor Shesterkin stopped 21 of 24 shots, but he couldn’t hold the lead.

New York is 0-4-1 in the past 5 games, while the Under is 3-1 in the past 4 outings. The Rangers are 1-7-1 in the past 9 games, and 2-11-2 in the past 15 outings, too.

Watch the NHL on Fubo!Penguins at Rangers odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Moneyline (ML): Penguins -125 (bet $125 to win $100) | Rangers +105 (bet $100 to win $105)Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Penguins -1.5 (+190) | Rangers +1.5 (-235)Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: -105 | U: -115)Penguins at Rangers projected goalies

Arturs Silovs (12-7-8, 2.86 GAA, .898 SV%, 1 SO) vs. Igor Shesterkin (17-12-5, 2.47 GAA, .912 SV%, 1 SO)

The 24-year-old Latvian Olympic goaltender has been on fire lately, allowing 3 or fewer goals in each of his past 8 outings, although his lone shutout was that regular-season opener against the Rangers back in October. Still, in 3 starts in February, he is 2-1-0 with a 2.04 GAA and .931 SV%.

Shesterkin was back in the crease Thursday, stopping 21 of 24 shots in a 3-2 OTL against Philadelphia. He was his first start since leaving the game Jan. 5 due to a lower-body injury after making all 9 saves in 13 minutes against the Utah Mammoth.

Penguins at Rangers picks and predictionsPrediction

Penguins 4, Rangers 3

The PENGUINS (-125) are worth playing lightly as slight road favorites. Normally, a Shesterkin vs. Silovs matchup would mean backing the Rangers. However, the Latvian tendy has really played well, while the Rangers are 0-4-1 in the past 5 games, averaging 2.0 GPG in the span. Over the long term, the Blueshirts have really struggled, too, going 3-13-3 in the past 19 outings.

The Penguins +1.5 (-275) are way too expensive if you require a little insurance, and you just can’t bring yourself to play the road team. That will cost you almost 3 times your potential return, and that’s always risky, especially betting the underdog with the potential of a late empty-net goal flipping a win to a loss.

AVOID.

OVER 6 (-105) is the lean, but go with a half-unit play at most.

The Rangers have had trouble scoring goals across the past 5 games, but the good news is that Shesterkin is back to keep them in games after the Spencer Martin/Jonathan Quick duo was mostly a disaster in his absence.

The Over is 4-2 in the past 6 games for the Penguins, and Pittsburgh has lit the lamp 4+ times in 3 in a row, and 8 of the past 10 games. The Pens offense is averaging 4.6 GPG on offense in the 10-game span.

For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

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