Mark Lammey
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The 2022-23 NHL season has its first puck drop in the United States tonight after the featured season-opening games in Prague, Czech Republic. It’s going to be quite the matchup as well. The Rangers are welcoming in the Lightning, making this a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. It’s just one of two games going on, and the only one in the early evening time slot. Therefore, all eyes will be on these teams to see if they will have the strong seasons they are projected to have. Along with this same game parlay, be sure to check out our NHL analysis for the upcoming games.
Rangers ML (-125)
Under 7.5 total goals (-475)
Anytime goalscorer – Nikita Kucherov (+165)
Parlay odds: +700
Let’s take a closer look at each leg of our same game parlay.
New York Rangers ML over Tampa Bay Lightning (-125)
Betting against a team that has won 2 of the last 3 Stanley Cups is never easy, but that actually may play a factor this season. The Lightning have had such deep runs in the postseason for several years now, and it’s only logical for that fatigue to catch up to them. Their core of skaters, as great as they are, lack the youth that the Rangers possess. Therefore, it’s very plausible that the Lightning don’t come out quite as electric as they have in years past.
Meanwhile, the Rangers are built on youth. They fell just short of a Stanley Cup Finals appearance and will be out for revenge. Most experts would agree they got much further, much sooner than expected. Not only did Chris Kreider score the 3rd-most goals in the NHL with 52, they also have the reigning Vezina Trophy winner for the league’s best goaltender in Igor Shesterkin. They still have Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin, 2 of the tops for assists, and they also signed former-Hurricane Vincent Trocheck over the summer. The Lightning didn’t make any significant additions and instead lost key defenseman Ryan McDonagh. Tampa will still make some noise in the Atlantic Division, but the Rangers should steal this season opener.
Be sure to check out our Tampa Bay Lightning vs New York Rangers predictions
Under 7.5 (-475)
It can be nerve-racking to go under on such a low total, but we are using an alternate line rather than the 5.5 goals that is listed. We have already mentioned Rangers Shesterkin winning the Vezina Trophy last season, and he was more than deserving of the award. He led the NHL in goals saved above expected and was even a finalist for the Hart Trophy for the league’s MVP. That’s very rare for a goaltender and speaks volumes to how great of a year he had.
While he had an incredible season, it’s Tampa’s goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy that is widely regarded as the best in the world over the last several seasons. He won the Vezina Trophy in 2019 and led the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cups. With those 2 goalies between the pipes, it’s no surprise these teams had low-scoring meetings all of last year. They ended the regular season with 2 games that saw just 4 and 3 total goals scored. That also transitioned to their Eastern Conference Finals matchups. After the opening game, they had 5 straight games that ended with 5 goals or fewer. With the Rangers bolstering their defense with Trocheck, they can come out on top of a low-scoring game.
Anytime goalscorer – Nikita Kucherov (+165)
Available props for Same Game Parlays in the NHL have been greatly decreased this season. Until that changes, we are going to start out this section the same way for each of our SGPs. We want to provide you with the best information, so our favorite consideration for a prop would be Artemi Panarin to record an assist. With that not being available to include as a leg in our SGP, let’s take a look at what’s at our disposal and the riskiness provides a great payout.
Taking a goalscorer prop along with an under makes hitting out SGP that much more difficult, but that much sweeter when we do. We opened up the season with our Predators vs Sharks SGP, so let’s keep it rolling with Nikita Kucherov to score a goal tonight. Goals will likely be hard to come by for both teams, but Kucherov is one who can deliver. He’s a former MVP and is never shy about taking hit shots. He’s had multiple 40-goal seasons and has had at least 30 goals in 5 of the past 6 seasons. He was able to score in 3 of the first 4 games against the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals and can roll that success over to tonight.
Don’t miss out on our player props for tonight’s action!
What is a Same Game Parlay?
Check out our guide on what is a same game parlay and where can I bet it?
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