Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports./Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport
New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers: Eastern Conference Finals – Game 6
The Florida Panthers have a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup final when they host the New York Rangers on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Rangers are with their back against the wall
The New York Rangers had the best regular-season record in the league and had a great start to the postseason, winning the first seven games. They had no problems going past the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, but now they are facing elimination after dropping Game 5 against the Panthers at home. The Rangers were the team that scored first and last, but the final score was 3-2 in Florida’s favor. Chris Kreider scored a shorthanded goal to put the Rangers on the board, then they allowed three unanswered goals before Alexis Lafreniere scored in the final minute of the game. Vincent Trocheck leads the Rangers with 19 points in the playoffs, followed by Mika Zibanejad, who has 16.
The Panthers need to step up
The Florida Panthers are one game away from going back to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost last season to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Panthers are coming off a huge 3-2 win on the road in New York to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Gustav Forsling tied the score in Game 5 in the middle of the second period, and Anton Lundell made it 2-1 in the middle of the third. Sam Bennett scored an empty-net goal late in the game to seal the deal for the Panthers. Matthew Tkachuk leads the team with 19 points, while Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe have 17 points each.
Betting Trends
The Panthers have won 15 of their last 20 games overall, 10 of the last 13 games at home and 4 of the last 6 games against teams from the Metropolitan Division. They have played under the total goal line in 7 of their last 8 games overall, 4 of the last 5 against the Rangers and have gone over in 10 of the last 11 home games against them. The Rangers have won 12 of their last 17 games overall, 10 of the last 13 games on the road and 7 of the last 10 games against teams from the Atlantic Division.
Prediction and Conclusion
It seemed like the New York Rangers got control of the series, but the Florida Panthers won the last two games, and now they are one win away from reaching the third Stanley Cup final in franchise history and the second in two years. Game 6 is the real opportunity for them, as they would not want to go back to New York for the decisive game. Florida has won 10 of the last 13 games at home, which is a great record, but at the same time, the Rangers have won 10 of their last 13 road games. Again, this will be a real fight on the ice that can go either way, so again, we go with under 5.5 goals in total.
