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A few weeks ago, it looked like Thursday’s rivalry renewal between the Rangers and Islanders could determine which local team made the playoffs and which would hit the golf course.
Instead, the final Rangers-Isles game of the season will be largely ceremonial.
Both the Blueshirts and Islanders are all but eliminated from the NHL playoff race, and complicated summers loom on the horizon.
The Islanders are -130 favorites at UBS Arena on Thursday.
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Rangers vs. Islanders betting preview
You want to be playing your best hockey down the stretch, but the opposite has been true for the Isles and Rangers this season.
The Blueshirts won just six of 15 games (6-6-3) in March, falling out of the playoff race and into the lottery conversation.
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The Rangers had a chance to rescue their season after consecutive wins against San Jose and Minnesota, but they fell flat in drubbings against the Devils and Lightning to land themselves in playing-out-the-string territory.
The Rangers haven’t been a strong 5-on-5 team all season – a problem that goes back a few years – but in previous campaigns, they’ve been able to rely on an elite power play to cover up their holes.
That has not been the case of late, as the Blueshirts are in the middle of a woeful stretch on the man advantage.
The Islanders have their own problems, but they mostly stem from a lack of talent.
The Isles have been without Mat Barzal for all but 30 games this season, and they traded away Brock Nelson at the deadline.
Without Barzal and Nelson, the Isles, who had a slim margin for error with those two in the lineup, need to play mistake-free hockey to have a chance to win.
That is a lot to ask for with this roster.
Rangers vs. Islanders pick
It’s been a long time since the Islanders and Rangers met in a dead rubber match this late in the season, and these kinds of tilts can go off the rails pretty quickly.
With nothing on the line besides pride, it wouldn’t be a shock to see this game devolve into a bit of a gong show with penalties, mistakes and scoring chances at each end of the ice.
That puts value on the Over, as it’s hard to see these two teams keeping things tidy on Long Island on Thursday.
The Pick: Over 5.5 (-120)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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