BEST LINES:  Pinnacle -½ +189 BET 365 -½ +180 SportsInteraction -½ +180 5DIMES -½ +180

Posted at 2:35 PM EST.

7:05 PM EST. The Islanders are 9-6-2 despite being the 29th ranked team in Corsi For % during five-on-five play. There is a strong correlation between Corsi For % and puck possession so what that tells us is that the Isles are playing without the puck far more often than they’re playing with it. The numbers suggest regression is their future and since we’re on the topic of regression, we’ll discuss PDO and goaltending too. The Islanders are the #1 PDO team (Shooting % plus Save %). That also screams regression, as their luck has been off the charts. Thomas Greiss ranked 44th in GSAA in 2016/17 and he ranked 65th out of 69 qualified goaltenders in GSAA last season. This year, Greiss ranks 5th. Regression in his game is inevitable. Finally, the Isles are Casey Cizikas, Andrew Ladd and Matt Martin and have replaced that trio with two callups -- Stephen Gionta and Michael Dal Colle. A bad team just got worse.

Mats Zuccarello returns tonight to give the Rangers more offense to a lineup that can roll out three scoring lines to begin with. No. 36 resumes his role as Mika Zibanejad’s right wing but Filip Chytil will be on the left side. The second line is Vlad Namestnikov with Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. The Jimmy Vesey-Brett Howden-Jesper Fast unit is the team’s third line. Chytil had played five games on Kevin Hayes’ left side in late October and is a dynamic young talent. The Rangers defense keeps getting better too and we’ll remain all-in on this Rangers’ squad until the market adjusts to how dangerous they are. Coach David Quinn is also putting extra emphasis on this game, as he called his team to center ice yesterday and asked, “How many games have you guys won at Barclay Center?” The answer is 0. The Rangers are not only 0-6 in Brooklyn the past three seasons, they also are a grotesque 1-9-2 in the rivalry since the start of 2015-16, the only victory coming in the 2016-17 season opener at the Garden. The Islanders’ physical dominance of this series has gotten old for the Rangers. They have been pounded and hounded relentlessly by their hungrier opponents, routinely forechecked into submission. That ends here under on David Quinn’s watch. The Rangers are the vastly superior team and Quinn has pounded it into their heads that this game means something.

Therefore:

OT included - N.Y. Rangers +121 for 1 unit.

Regulation only - N.Y. Rangers -½ +189 for 1 unit. 

Open an account today at and take advantage of their -104 style pricing on sides and totals, which is 60% better than other sportsbooks.