New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals Prediction: Don’t expect a high-productive match

Prediction for the NHL New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals match, which will take place on March 15. Check the team conditions and choose several betting options.

The Rangers are a semifinalist of last year's Stanley Cup and finally got a taste of the big wins, so this season, they intend to get even closer to the trophy. For that purpose, they reinforced their roster before the start of the Cup battles by signing such experienced hockey players as Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane. Of course, you should not expect instant results from the recruits. They are slowly adapting to the team, but they still have time. In their last three games, the New York club has won twice and lost once in overtime, remaining in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Washington can only dream of similar roster additions. The Capitals have had major roster problems throughout the regular season due to injuries on multiple occasions, which has kept them out of the playoff zone. Moreover, over the last month, the club's bosses eliminated Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, Erik Gustafsson, Markus Johansson, and Lars Eller. Among the acquisitions, only Rasmus Sandin, who suddenly started scoring for his new team, is worth mentioning. In their last three games, however, the Red and Blue have only one win and two losses, in tenth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

The Rangers and Washington approach their encounter in bad shape. The Blueshirts have had trouble with their results, but in Madison Square Garden, they've won six of their last eight games. But the Metropolitan play equally modestly both away and on the road, so it will be difficult to count on their success in New York. Gerard Galland now has a more balanced, experienced, and skillful squad than Peter Laviolette, so we suggest betting on the Rangers' victory.

The Rangers and Washington have not been very productive lately. In their four previous head-to-head encounters, the opponents combined to score only 23 goals (5.75 average per game). Now, we shouldn't expect a goal extravaganza, either. On this basis, the best option for the prediction seems to be a total under 6.5 pucks, and separately we should bet on the total over 0.5 points of Alexis Lafreniere.