New York Rangers vs Arizona Coyotes: the New York Club to Handle an Uncomfortable Opponent

Arizona has beaten the Rangers in their last two head-to-head meetings in New York. Will Gerard Gallant's team avoid another loss to the Coyotes? Check the teams’ conditions and expert betting tips. Several betting options are available!

The Rangers are finally having a very decent regular season. As soon as the New York club got a good head coach, their results immediately increased. The Blues began to score consistently from the very beginning, making them among the league leaders. They looked imposing in November and December when they snapped a seven-game winning streak. Now Gerard Gallant's charges occasionally began to make lapses. For example, the day before, they lost to Carolina, 3:6, but they had three wins before that. All that allows the Rangers to occupy fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, five points behind the leader.

Arizona has had yet another disappointing regular season, which has long ago made it impossible for them to make the playoffs. Starting with 11 losses in a row is not a good situation. So André Tourigny's team has been quietly treading on the bottom of the pecking order. They've been doing wonders lately, clinging to points, but even that's not enough to improve their position. In their previous 11 meetings, the Coyotes had five wins and six losses, which isn't too bad by their standards, but too much was lost earlier. Arizona currently is on the bottom place in the Western Conference standings.

Arizona has been a surprisingly tricky opponent for the Rangers of late. In their last five head-to-head meetings, the Blues have only beat the Coyotes once. Fortunately, that happened during the current regular season, when they got a new head coach, something they hadn't had before. For the same reason, we can consider the New York club as a favourite in the upcoming battle as well, now they are in good shape and struggle for the leadership in the East. The team from Glendale is quietly coming last in the West. As a result, we are forced to bet on the Rangers' victory with a handicap (-1.5).

In recent years, Chris Kreider has been one of the Rangers' most consistent hockey players. This is his 11th year playing for the Blue Jays, and he has shown a very decent game, being one of the team's top scorers. The current regular season is no exception. In 41 games, the American has already scored 38 points (26 goals + 12 assists), and he hasn't left the ice in three games without a result. Given that, we would expect to see Chris Kreider's 0.5 point total.

In the regular season, the Rangers are not known for the reckless hockey they've shown in all of the past few years. In their previous 16 meetings with the Blues, only 83 goals were scored (5.19 average per game), which is modest by NHL standards. Arizona's numbers should not be considered outrageous either, as they have 30 goals against (5.00 goals-against average) in their last six games. Moreover, in the last five ties, the teams scored only 22 goals (4.40 on average per game), so it is worth looking at a bet on the total under 5.5 pucks.