NHL Game Preview for Wednesday November 9, 2011: New York Rangers @ Ottawa Senators

Sports Betting Overview

The New York Rangers have easily the most emotional coach in theNHLin John Tortorella, but he gets results. The players love performing for Tortorella and he loves pushing them to perform. As was expected, the Rangers are getting top-flight goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist. But theNHLfans inNew Yorkare a little confused as to why the newly revamped Rangers’ offense cannot put the puck in the net more often. The Rangers are riding a two-game winning streak but they are already starting to fall behindPittsburghin the Atlantic Division standings. With the addition of center Brad Richards and other notable players in the off-season, the fans certainly expected more from the Rangers this season. Tortorella also expects a lot from his team, and he has a variety of colorful ways to get his team to kick it up a notch.

 

The Ottawa Senators are a price per head sports surprise this season. The Senators are scoring goals by the truckload and that may have something to do with the team’s recent success. But the terrible goaltending that the Senators is getting will eventually cause the team to drop to the bottom of the Northeast Division again.Ottawa is6-4-0 in its last 10 games and has put itself in second place in the Northeast Division right behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. But the combination of conditions that lead up to this game may not favor the Senators at all.

 

New York Rangers

The bookie software has goaltender Henrik Lundqvist as the one consistent element on the Rangers’ team, but he is not getting much offensive help. Despite numbers such as a 2.18 goals against average and a save percentage of .932 this season, Lundqvist’s record is3-3-3. He is not getting the goal-scoring support he needs. But considering the porous defense and goaltending inOttawa, this game against the Senators could be just what the Rangers need to get into a scoring groove. One Ranger that needs to start putting the puck in the ned is Wojtek Wolski. He was hailed as a hero inPhoenix two years ago when he arrived at the trade deadline, but was run out of town a year later for not scoring. In six games played this season, Wolski has no goals and two assists. His offensive problems are typical of what is happening to the Rangers this year.

 

Ottawa Senators

A 5 dimes review of the performance this season ofOttawa goaltender Craig Anderson shows a goalie that is still unable to live up to his outstanding performance in the playoffs for the Avalanche two years ago.Anderson has a6-3-0 record, but his 3.80 goals against average indicates that his winning ways will not last all season long.

 

The Bottom Line

The Senators give up a lot of goals and the Rangers have one of the best defensive teams in hockey. This will be one of the NHL scores that the Rangers should be able to use as inspiration to start putting the puck in the net more often.

 

Pick: New York Rangers

Leave a Reply