Free NHL Picks Today: Ottawa Senators vs New York Rangers 11/30/22

The Ottawa Senators (8-12-1) host the New York Rangers (10-9-4), who will be out to halt their losing streak, at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday. New York is coming off a high-scoring 5-3 loss against the Devils on Monday, their third consecutive defeat. The Rangers took advantage of their power play opportunities, scoring once on five shots while holding New Jersey without a power play goal.

Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin scored one apiece for the Rangers. Chris Kreider had two assists to lead the team in scoring. Igor Shesterkin only had 33 saves on 37 shots against (.891%) in the loss.Ottawa beat the Kings 3-2 (OT) on Sunday. Claude Giroux, Brady Tkachuk, and Alex DeBrincat scored one apiece for the Senators. Cam Talbot saved 25 of 27 shots in the win (.925%).

HEAD TO HEAD

The Rangers won all three games between the teams last season, including a 5-1 victory in their final meeting in April, their third straight win against Ottawa. Panarin led New York with three points (1G 2A). Austin Watson scored Ottawa’s only goal. Shesterkin got the win, saving 21 of 22 shots (.954%).

FACING OFF

New York is averaging 3.00 goals per game for the season, 19th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Senators team that is allowing 3.38 goals a game (22nd). Meanwhile, Ottawa has found the net 3.14 times a game on average, 17th in the league, and the Rangers are allowing opponents to score 2.87 goals per game (11th).

Power play opportunities ought to be plentiful for the Rangers, as the Senators have been penalized 5.14 times a game, second-most in the NHL, for an average of 12.24 minutes (sixth-highest). The visitors are averaging 3.57 penalties (5th-fewest in the league) and 7.87 penalty minutes a game (6th-fewest).

The Senators’ 24.68% power play percentage ranks ninth in the league, while the Rangers are 19th with a conversion rate of 21.25%. When it comes to defending power plays, New York has the league’s seventh-ranked PK% at 81.16%, while Ottawa is 19th at 78.31%.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Panarin and Adam Fox are the top skaters for the Rangers this season with 25 points apiece. Both have six goals and 19 assists (9th) in 23 games. In the net, Shesterkin (10-3-3) is New York’s top goaltender. He has a 2.49 GAA and a .914% save percentage. Tkachuk leads the Senators in scoring with 25 points.

He has nine goals and 16 assists. Talbot (3-5-0) has the best goals against average for Ottawa at 2.51. He has a save percentage of .919%. Anton Forsberg (4-7-1) has played the most games in net for the Senators this season. He has a 3.43 GAA and a .904% save percentage.