Don't Trust the New York Rangers Moving Forward in NHL Playoffs
The second round of the NHL Playoffs is set to begin on Tuesday night, and I'm here to tell to that the Rangers storybook season is not going to last much longer.
In fact, I would say they are the least deserving team to advanced to the second round, and it's a crying shame that the Penguins were eliminated, despite outplaying the Rangers for the majority of the season.
Before I dive into why that's the case, let's take a look at where their odds currently stand, courtest of WynnBET Sportsbook.
Rangers NHL Playoffs Odds
- To Win Stanley Cup +1200
- To Win Eastern Conference +550
- To Win Series vs. Hurricanes +180
- To Win Game 1 vs. Hurricanes +145
Rangers Were Dominated in Opening Round
I made a claim back in January that the New York Rangers were the most fraudulent team in the NHL. I retracted that statement after they impressed me in the final few months of the season, but after I watched them play in the opening round against the Penguins, I'm back to calling them frauds.
Their defense was by far the worst amongst the 16 playoff teams in the opening round. Even worse than the Predators, who were swept by the Avalanche. They ranked dead last in both expected goals against per 60 minutes at 4.27, and high danger scoring chances allowed per 60 minutes at 18.23. Those are some truly awful numbers.
That goes without saying that they ranked 13th amongst the 16 playoff teams in high danger scoring chances created, and 14th in expected goals for.
Obviously, hockey isn't won on a spread sheet, but if you go by the advanced analytics "expected goals", which I've cited earlier, they should have lost by an average of 4.27-2.91. That was the second worst expected goals percentage in the playoffs at 40.56%, next to only the Predators at 32.67%.
It's truly a miracle that the Rangers survived and advanced to this round.
Series Recap: #NoQuitinNY defeats #LetsGoPens
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) May 16, 2022
Anyone who watched this series won't be surprised by this: the Penguins ran roughshod over the Rangers at 5v5 in almost every game. Goaltending and blown leads cost them a series they should have wrapped up well before game seven. pic.twitter.com/MnN9nlzyMY
Unfortunately for them, they now need to face the Metropolitan Division champs, who are a much better team than the Penguins. They're a complete club from top to bottom, that won't let opportunities slip away like Pittsburgh did.
I'm sorry Rangers fans, but let's be honest, you might not even win a game this series.
Iain MacMillan and Donnavan Smoot return with "Rookie vs. Vet" with their Round 2 NHL picks!
You can track Iain's bets on Betstamp here.