Ken Jenkins
New York Rangers @ New York Islanders o5.5 (-110)
Wed Oct 10 '07 7:05p
7:00pm ET Free NY Islanders / NY Rangers OVER 5.5
Plenty of historical downward pressure on the total as these two rivals cashed plenty of unders to wrap up last year. With that being said, these are not the 2006/7 Islanders (as the Sabres can attest to). Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin have created a real energy on Long Island and the home club did not appear intimidated in the slightest last week against Buffalo.
All kinds of bad blood between these two clubs. A pre-season brawl saw suspended (only for regular season games) Islander Chris Simon hook up with the recipient of his slash last year Ryan Hollweg. The game also featured a scrap between the goalies and a lot of talk of "unfinished business" heading into the regular season. Both clubs have deadly snipers on the power play and we could see a fair bit of 4-on-4 if this one starts out chippy.
Easily 1/2 a goal wrong on the posted total here, so we'll take the over and enjoy the first of a rejuvenated battle of New York that the Islanders are now a worthy opponent of.
Play on: OVER 5.5