Murray eager for opportunity vs. Blueshirts
The Rangers and Penguins meet for the second time in three days tonight. Can Mike Sullivan’s club recover from a 5-2 setback roughly 36 hours ago?
Pittsburgh (11-5-3) hopes the presence of Matt Murray between the pipes tilts the balance in its favor. However, online sports book Bovada.lv gives New York odds of -115 to emerge victorious. The Pens enter Madison Square Garden as -105 underdogs.
Earlier this week, the Blueshirts (14-5-1) ambushed their Metropolitan Division rivals with four goals in the final 26 minutes. Alain Vigneault continues to put the league’s most dangerous offense on the ice despite missing top-flight center Mika Zibanejad (broken fibula). On 10 separate occasions, New York has notched at least five tallies.
Meanwhile, the Penguins are a minus-1 in goal differential. Marc Andre-Fleury looks frequently lost, putting added pressure on his 22-year-old heir apparent. Murray will draw his first career start against the Rangers shortly. He currently boasts a 1.68 GAA to go along with a .945 save percentage.
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Only two squads have allowed more shots per contest in 2015-16 than Pittsburgh. Thankfully, Murray relishes a huge workload. Expect the visiting crew to hang with the Metro’s leaders well into the third period.
WEDNESDAY NHL FREE PICK: PENGUINS +1.5