The surprising Pittsburgh Penguins take on the New York Rangers in NHL Playoff Picks action in game #2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series.  After taking the first game the Penguins are hoping to take control of the series today and go up a commanding 2-0 in the NHL Playoff series.  In the first game Pittsburgh showed that their potent offense can strike quickly as they overcame an early three goal deficit scoring the game winning goal with 1:41 left pulling out 5-4 victory.  The win in game 1 was their fifth in a row in the NHL playoffs and is the first time that they have accomplished such a feat since way back in 1996.  Jarkko Ruutu, Pascal Dupuis, Marian Hossa and Petr Sykora all scored for the Penguins.  The Penguins have struggled overall versus the Rangers this season posting only a 4-5 SU mark including their latest win.  However, the public doesn’t seem to mind that fact as the odds makers at SportsBook.com has listed Pittsburgh as a -145 favorite on the money and -1.5/+200 on the puck line.

The Rangers look to rebound today as their NHL Playoff Picks loss to the Penguins was only their second in 95 games after holding a three goal lead.  In the loss Martin Straka, Chris Drury, Sean Avery and Scott Gomez scored for the Rangers.  New York fans are hoping that their Rangers can shake off the tough loss as captain Jaromir Jagr was quoted as saying "That one hurts," …….. "I thought we had it. The second one is going to be even tougher, but we have to do it somehow."   Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist also chimed in by saying "We just have to forget this,"……. "I don't want to think about it. I just want to move on."  The Rangers, who won five of their eight regular season meetings with the Penguins this season, will now rely on their playoff experience to get back in this best-of-seven series. Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Gomez collectively have seven Stanley Cup rings. 

If you think that the NHL Playoff Picks side is a done deal consider the fact that New York Rangers are 11-5 ATS in road games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season and 11-2 ATS  off a loss against a division rival this season.  However, before you jump on this bandwagon the Rangers have really struggled when their goaltending has been anything but stellar as they are only 4-10 ATS after playing 3 straight games where 7 or more total goals were scored over the last 3 seasons. 

Last season Michael Alexander scorched the books posting an unbelievable 22-3 NHL Playoff Picks mark and this season has been no different as he has started a profitable 7-3. 

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