Game 2 Pick and Prediction for Lightning vs. Rangers on Friday (2022)

The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers will be facing off for Game 2 this Friday in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Rangers won Game 1 in spectacular fashion, beating the Lightning 6-2 on Wednesday.

That’s not all it’s going to take to beat the Lightning, who have won the last two Stanley Cup championships. It’s going to take a big effort in every single game if the Rangers want to beat the back to back champs in this series.

It’s definitely possible though, so let’s get right into Game 2’s Lightning vs. Rangers odds for Friday.

Here are the odds for Lightning vs. Rangers from the best NHL betting sites. The Rangers won Game 1 by 4 goals and will be playing on their home ice, but they will still be coming into this game as underdogs.

That’s how much respect the oddsmakers have for the Lightning, who have kicked it up a notch in the playoffs. Tampa Bay finished in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division with a 51-23-8 record. They went to Game 7 with the Maple Leafs in the first round and won and had looked insanely good in Round 2.

The Shift, in its entirety.

The kids. 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ymMs6E3JrC

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 2, 2022

The Florida Panthers came into the playoffs with the best regular season record and most points (122). Tampa Bay didn’t care in the slightest, sweeping them in 4 games. They were able to get a full week worth of rest before Game 1 against the Rangers, but that actually didn’t help them out.

New York went to Game 7 with the Hurricanes last round, which only gave them one full day of rest. They were still able to defeat the mighty Lightning and will be looking to get a 2-game lead on Friday.

The goal total set for this game is at 5.5, which is low because of top tier goalies like Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin.

Let’s see how these two teams matchup for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Like I said, Game 2 of this series will still be in New York due to the Rangers finishing a notch over Tampa Bay in the standings. It paid off big time in Game 1 with a win, so they’ll be looking to repeat the same kind of success from that one.

Tampa Bay is surely going to make adjustments, so let’s see what those might be.

Despite losing by a large margin of 4 goals, the Lightning actually outshot the Rangers. They had 39 shots on goal by the end of the game, which was more than New York’s 34.

They also had 3 power play chances compared to New York’s 2, but weren’t able to convert. The Rangers cashed in on one of their tries though on a Mika Zibanejad goal in the 3rd period.

Vasilevskiy held the league’s best offense (Florida) to just 3 total goals in 4 games. The week off might have been too much and shook up his game, so he needs to get back in the groove here.

If he can do that and the Lightning can outshoot the Rangers again, Tampa Bay could prove that they are much better than their Game 1 performance.

Igor Shesterkin continued his incredible season in Game 1. If the Lightning are going to stop the surging Rangers, they are going to have to get to Shesterkin.

He led the league in goals allowed per game (2.07) and save percentage (93.5%), which is literally as good as it gets as a goalie. In the 7-game series against Carolina, Shesterkin only allowed more than 2 goals just once.

They’ve scored 5+ goals in three straight games against two of the best defensive teams in the league.

If their offense keeps rolling and Shesterkin is his usual self, there might not be any team that can beat the Rangers.

Before we get into our pick for the game, let’s check out some Lightning vs. Rangers player prop bets to target for this one. You can find these options and more on BetOnline’s player props section.

I think both goalies should have a great shot at reaching 30+ saves in this one. You can actually get plus odds for Vasilevskiy to get 30 and Shesterkin at 32+ (+106).

The Lightning were able to get 39 shots up on Shesterkin and he saved 37 of them. That’s the 3rd game in a row for him with 37 saves. He’s gotten 30+ saves in 6 straight games as well. Game 1 probably served as a good wake up call to the Lightning, so they’re going to keep the pressure on.

Igor Shesterkin has IDENTICAL stats in his last three #StanleyCup Playoff games. That's WILD🤯

h/t u/Benchamb pic.twitter.com/hAzkpiJosP

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 2, 2022

On the other hand, the Rangers were still able to get 34 shots on their own in Game 1. Vasilevskiy did allow 6 of them and finished with 28 saves. I think saving 2+ more shots is very possible here for the Lightning’s goalie.

He also had 30+ saves for 6 straight games before the last one too.

Two players that should have a chance to nab 2+ shots on goal are Ondrej Palat and Filip Chytil. Chytil scored as many goals as Tampa Bay did in Game 1 (2) and was able to do so on just 2 shots.

With a 100% shot percentage, he should be looking to pepper the net even more in this one. Palat has also reached 3+ shots in 5 of his last 7 games.

Personally I think this game is going to be a lot closer than the series opener, but I just can’t bet against the Rangers right now. Their offense is on fire and so is Shesterkin. Those two forces combined are going to be very difficult to beat.

The week off didn’t seem to help the Lightning, who got a serious wake up call in Game 1. I think they come into this one looking better, but I’ll have to see improvement before I think they can beat the Rangers.

At the end of the day, these two teams are very talented and you can’t go wrong backing either one. The Rangers won Game 1 by 4 goals and are at home, so I’m surprised their moneyline is in plus odds.

Head over to our sports betting picks page for more recommended bets.