Rangers vs. Lightning Odds & Preview: How to Bet Eastern Conference Finals Game 6

Rangers vs. Lightning Game 6 Odds

The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers will head back down south to face off in what could be the game that decides the series.

After going up 2-0 in the series, the Rangers have failed to win a game and are now down 3-2 and facing a tough battle to stay in the series.

However, New York is undefeated when facing elimination this postseason. Will that remain the case in Game 6, or will the Lightning close out the series on home ice?

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New York Rangers

The New York Rangers began this series on the right foot, dominating the Lightning on the offensive end of the ice and outscoring Tampa 9-4 through the first two games.

However, the hot start on offense has cooled down in the past three games as New York has scored just four goals over that span.

To make matters worse, the defense hasn't always been there to make up for the lack of scoring, which has caused some issues in this series.

Through New York's 19 postseason games, they have given up 36 goals in 5-on-5 situations, which ranks second of the four teams that made their respective conference final. Furthermore, the Rangers have posted 3.53 Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes (xGF/60) in 5-on-5, the second highest out of the 16 teams to make the postseason.

Luckily, Igor Shesterkin has been a great last line of defense for this team all postseason and has helped fill in some of those gaps. Shesterkin enters this matchup with an SV% of .939 and 16.5 Goals Saved Above Expected (GSAx) in 5-on-5. If the offense gets back on track and provides him with some help, New York will have a great chance of forcing a Game 7.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Not many expected the back-to-back champions to get to the Eastern Conference Final in the fashion that they did — defeating the Maple Leafs in seven games and then sweeping the Panthers, but that is exactly where Tampa Bay is and they are just one win away from going back to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Lightning can credit a large part of their success to their continued offensive dominance. Entering Game 6, they have scored 26 total goals in 5-on-5 situations and have the sixth highest xGF/60 in 5-on-5 (2.81), proving they are still one of the top forces on that end of the ice.

However, goaltending has been the highlight of the playoffs for the Lightning and that will likely remain the case in a close-out situation.

Andrei Vasilevskiy has been a stud all postseason and he has really come alive in Tampa Bay's past three games as he has allowed just four goals while facing 90 shot attempts. Vasilevskiy also has an SV% of .937 and 6.8 GSAx in 5-on-5, further establishing himself as one of the most consistent and reliable goaltenders in the NHL.

Rangers vs. Lightning Pick

Although the Lightning have been able to sneak some pucks past Shesterkin, I'm a firm believer that New York will be able to deliver on the defensive end of the ice, despite being on the road.

As previously mentioned, the Rangers are undefeated this postseason when facing elimination and with the season on the line I expect them to give Shesterkin some more help.

However, Vasilevskiy has been fantastic in close-out situations as well and has posted six shut-outs in his past seven series-clinching games.

With that being said, I like this to be a competitive game that stays low scoring. Four of the five game sin this series have seen a total below 5.5 and I think that remains the case in this one.

Pick: Total Under 5.5 (-140)