Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon sport

Ottawa Senators vs New York Rangers: Both teams are off to a solid start of the season

The New York Rangers are hosting the Ottawa Senators today at Madison Square Garden.

The Senators look good at the start of the season

The Ottawa Senators are ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 5-4-0 record, including 1-3-0 on the road. After losing two consecutive games, they won 8-1 against the St. Louis Blues in the last one. The Senators are third in the league scoring 4.22 goals per game and are ranked 23rd allowing 3.44 goals per game. Tim Stutzle leads the team with 14 points so far in the season.

Are the Rangers still the team to beat in the East?

The New York Rangers are sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 6-2-1 record, including 2-1-1 at home. They have lost two of the last three games and are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals. The Rangers are fourth in the league scoring 4.11 goals per game and rank second allowing 2.33. Artemi Panarin leads the team with 15 points so far in the season.

Betting Trends

The Rangers are 5-2 SU in their last 7 games overall, 2-4 SU in their last 6 home games against Ottawa and 4-1 SU in their last 5 games against teams from the Atlantic Division. New York has played under the total goal line in 12 of their last 18 games against the Senators and 7 of their last 8 home games. The Senators are 3-6 SU in their last 6 games against the Rangers and 2-4 SU in their last 6 games against a team from the Metropolitan Division. Ottawa has played over the total goal line in 4 fo their last 6 games overall.

Prediction and Conclusion

After a while, the Ottawa Senators look like a serious team in the East and are heading to New York after their best performance of the season, scoring 8 goals against the St. Louis Blues. The New York Rangers are also solid as expected, and the only reason why they are a little lower in the standings is the fact that they have played fewer games compared to the rest of the conference. The Rangers are coming back home after a loss in DC and are the favorite in this game. Still, the Senators are excellent on the offense and will play with no pressure in MSG. Therefore, the best bet for this game is over 6.5 goals in total.