The New York Rangers were not supposed to make the playoffs this season, the pundits said. Stanley Cup betting experts said they definitely weren’t supposed to have any chance of coming back from a 3-1 series deficit to the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Yet, here the Rangers are, in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Carolina Hurricanes. No doubt, betting sites will not give them much of a shot in this series either. 

The question is: Are the Rangers just happy to be here, having already exceeded expectations on this season? Or, are they a hungry darkhorse that wants to shock the world all the way to the Stanley Cup Final?

We’ll see, starting this week in a best-of-seven series with the Hurricanes, who had to go seven games to beat the underdog Boston Bruins to also get here. Let’s take a deeper dive into the series, from an NHL betting perspective:

Rangers vs Hurricanes Odds

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Rangers vs Hurricanes Betting Tips

First off, the Hurricanes have been very tough at home, winning all four games of their first-round series with Boston on home ice. While I like the chances of the Rangers getting a split in the first two games, I think Carolina takes Game 1. 

Carolina’s top two scorers in the first round were defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo. Carolina will play next against likely Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin, so unless the Hurricanes’ top forwards such as Sebastian Aho improve over the last series, I’ll likely be inclined to take the under in games more often than not in this series.

Artemi Panarin’s Game 7 OT winner on the Penguins could be just the boost he needed to really get going, so consider more goal prop bets on the Bread Man. I think he’ll be their top scorer.

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We hit on a prop bet pick for Mika Zibanejad in Game 7, to score a goal, so New York sports betting fans eager to back the Rangers should consider him highly on future props as well. He had a great series against Pittsburgh.

I like Game 1 to go to overtime, and I’m seeing prop bets at +340 for that on betting apps. If you betting budget allows it, I’d put some decent coin on that. Game 1s are often feeling-out processes where games are close. 

I’d look at third periods of games for both teams to score. That’s desperation time for teams, and often when both teams light the lamp in a game.

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Rangers vs Hurricanes Series Prediction

Well, this is another tough series to predict. I like both teams. Carolina has a better 1-12 group of forwards, but not by much. Neither team has a true stud shutdown defenseman, though the Rangers have former Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox. 

The Hurricanes have home-ice advantage, but it’s no picnic going into Madison Square Garden either, where Rangers fans were rabid in the series with Pittsburgh. 

As it usually does, this series should come down to goaltending, and that’s where the Rangers figure to have a real edge. Shesterkin got better as the last series went along, and while Antti Raanta did a good job in the first round, he’s just not on the same level as Shesterkin.

My question: Is it really that big of an advantage, Shesterkin over Raanta? Enough to want to pick the Rangers in the series?

I just don’t quite feel that. Carolina is a darn good team. I think I like them to win what should be a long series. Make your NHL pick the Hurricanes in six games at +425 with DraftKings.

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