Islanders vs. Rangers: Betting odds, lineups, Derick Brassard redemption time

With the way the last game ended between the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers Derick Brassard has to have redemption on his mind.

There’s no question that New York Islanders forward Derick Brassard cross-checked Jester Fast with 54 seconds remaining in regulation. The question is did Jesper Fast dive? (Yeah, he did.) Or was it the right time to make such a call by the officials?

Either way, Brassard was given a penalty and the Rangers scored on the power play to take the full two points. Now, how will Derick Brassard help the Islanders get a much-needed regulation win?

And how will the rest of his team perform around him?

The Rangers were lucky to get a win against the Islanders the last time out. Mika Zibanejad had a goal awarded to him by the Toronto war room. Tony DeAngelo scored while momentum was squarely on the Islanders side. And Kreider added the deciding goal on a contentious call late in the game.

The Islanders may have lost but they deserved to get something out of the game based on their effort. Ideally, they hit the ice at MSG today with that same effort.

Tale of the Tape

Don’t give the Rangers needless chances on the power play. With a 21 percent efficiency, they’ll make the Islanders pay. Not that they need to be told, they were there last time when the Rangers converted on two power plays. The last one being the game-winner with 24.6 seconds left in the game.

Betting Odds

The Rangers are even money today, courtesy of the Action Network. As the home team and with a 2-0 record and a +5 goal differential against the Isles recently, but the Islanders are favored tonight with a -108 Moneyline at the time of writing.