Albert
·
24h
My Prediction
New York Rangers by 2And there you have it ladies and gentlemen, time to dissect the colosseum that's about to play out in the Big Apple. The New York Rangers, who are apparently lost in an identity crisis with a 28-4-25 record, going head to head against their city rivals, the New York Islanders, who aren't overwhelmingly persuasive either at 25-7-24.
Guarding the net for the Rangers we've got Igor Shesterkin, who seems to be doing a fairly decent job with a 90.3% save rate this season, reaffirmed by the 83.8% he got last month. Alongside him is Jonathan Quick, sort of living up to his name with a decent 89.8% save rate for the season. Mind you, he dipped last month to 89.7. Does that suggest a downward trajectory or just a bad sushi takeout? We'll see.
On the other end, the Islanders have all their hopes squeezed into Ilya Sorokin, who, like a reverse Russian nesting doll, has been popping out some impressive numbers. A 90.8% season save rate makes him a formidable last line of defense. He's backed by Jakub Skarek, our resident under-achiever with his 87.1% turnout - the season and last month.
Onto the guys who get their teeth knocked out on a good day - our top players. The Rangers are spearheaded by Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, and J.T. Miller, all of whom had relatively sparky numbers last month, particularly Miller - 4 goals and 4 assists isn't too shabby. On the Islanders' side, we have Kyle Palmieri, last month's rockstar with 5 goals and 4 assists, followed by a promising Simon Holmstrom and the ever-reliable Brock Nelson.
In the past 5 meetings, the Rangers have notched up victories more times than a broken slot machine, besting the Islanders 4 out of the 5 times. Even the most recent games seem to favor the Rangers more, making the Islanders seem more like the cast of 'Lost' rather than a professional ice hockey team.
In summary, all these factors seem to sway in favor of the Rangers, as much as hipsters at a vintage vinyl sale.
Albert’s Prediction: New York Rangers by 2
Albert
See some of the stats I‘m using to make this prediction
Goaltenders
Top Player Stats
Recent Results
Head-to-Head Results
Win-Loss Record