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The Eastern Conference standings are ridiculous.
Only eight points separate the first-place Carolina Hurricanes and 15th-place Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Pittsburgh Penguins currently hold the last wild-card spot with 35 points, but there are seven teams within three points of the Pens.
The Buffalo Sabres are the only team in the East under .500 entering this weekend.
It’s too early to call any game a must-win for any team, but given how bunched up things are, teams in the East can ill-afford to hand points to their rivals in the playoff race.
The Rangers will look to avoid doing that Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
Rangers vs. Canadiens odds, prediction
The Blueshirts and Habs are off to similar starts this season.
They are separated by one point, they both have been terrific on the road and poor at home and they’ve both played plenty of overtimes already this campaign.
But the similarities between the Rangers and Habs don’t stretch much further than the box scores. These are two very different teams.
Montreal is built on speed and skill, but it struggles in its own zone.
The Canadiens are conceding 3.5 goals per game, and their .873 save percentage is the second-worst in the NHL this season.
An attack headlined by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, and Juraj Slafkovsky can help mask some of the defensive issues, but the Canadiens will eventually need to steady the ship.
Montreal’s Jacob Fowler won his NHL debut on Thursday. NHLI via Getty Images
The Rangers have the opposite problem.
The Blueshirts are getting Vezina-caliber goaltending, and they allow the second-fewest high-danger scoring chances in the NHL, but they can’t score enough to make those numbers matter.
The Blueshirts’ scoring woes were on display in a recent 3-0 loss to Chicago. It was the sixth time this season the Rangers were blanked and the 17th time they were held to two or fewer goals in a game.
So what happens when a stoppable force meets a movable object? A toss-up. That’s what.
Betting on the NHL?
The Canadiens boast a decided edge in speed and skill in this game, and you’d expect they’ll have more of the puck, but the Rangers have the better defense and goaltending.
That said, the Habs did shake up their goaltending picture by starting high-pedigree rookie Jacob Fowler in a start against the Penguins on Thursday. The 21-year-old answered the bell with a 36-save performance. Not a bad debut.
Even if you’re uncomfortable backing a goaltender making his second career start on “Hockey Night in Canada,” it’s hard to imagine that Fowler isn’t an upgrade on what the Habs were getting from their goalies this season.
With that in mind, I’ll back Montreal at plus-money in a game that profiles as a coin flip.
The Play: Canadiens (+120, FanDuel)
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Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.