Tonight, the New York Rangers travel south to face the Washington Capitals in the third game of their best-of-seven series. The Rangers own a 2-0 lead, having bested the Capitals 4-1 and 4-3 in their previous two games.
Can New York finish the Capitals off, or will the Rangers fall in Washington? We’ve got you covered with three player prop bets to make!
We'll also give out our overall best bet for the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals Game 3 first-round playoff series matchup Friday.
The Rangers have relied on 32-year-old Artemi Panarin to power their offense this season, and the nine-year veteran has lived up to that task.
On the year, Panarin finished with 49 goals and 71 assists, stats good enough for a fifth-place finish this year in the NHL. His 120 points is fourth in the league.
The left winger has scored three goals against Washington thus far, including a strike in the playoffs. After a subpar game two against the Capitals, expect Panarin to find the back of the net Friday night and score a goal for the Rangers.
The Washington Capitals relied on goalie Charlie Lindgren to protect their net, and he did just that. Lindgren led the league this season with six shutouts and was top 15 in record (25-16-7) and save percentage (.911).
Against New York, Lindgren has been uncharacteristically porous. The sixth-year goalie has allowed eight goals through two games, and he’s recorded 24 and 27 saves, respectively, in the teams’ first two games.
Expect Lindgren to rebound in the friendly confines of Capital One Arena and cover this player prop bet.
The New York Knicks made Alexis Lafreniere their first-round draft choice in 2020, taking him as the top overall pick in the draft. The athlete has played in 298 games since that time, scoring 75 goals and sticking 73 assists over the past four seasons.
This season, Lafreniere netted a career-best 28 goals and 29 assists, finishing with 57 points in 2023-24. Through six games this season and the postseason against Washington, Lafreniere posted five points, including two goals against the team.
While Lafreniere hasn’t scored a goal this series, he’s recorded back-to-back games against the Capitals with at least one point. Expect him to continue that trend Friday against Washington.
Bettors shouldn’t take this as a nod toward Washington making this series close. In fact, I would be surprised if the Capitals have more than one good game left in them before packing it up for the year.
But I expect Washington to make this game close and potentially win or lose by another one-goal game Friday in their return trip home.
After this, however, expect New York to polish off the Capitals in five games or less and move on to the second round of the playoffs.
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