New Jersey Devils vs. Tampa Bay Lightning: Game 1 Prediction, NHL Playoff Odds
Quite a turnaround for the Lightning as they missed the playoffs last year with 94 points, partly due to some key injuries, but finished atop the East with 113 this regular season, setting a franchise record in points. The last two times that Tampa Bay finished with at least 106 points, it reached the Stanley Cup Finals – losing in 2015 to Chicago and winning the franchise’s only title in 2004 over Calgary.
Devils vs Lightning Stanley Cup Playoffs Betting Analysis
New Jersey is in the playoffs for the first time since losing the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals to Los Angeles. That was essentially the end of the Martin Brodeur era with the Devils. Last year, they finished with just 70 points (tied for third-fewest) but lucked into winning the draft lottery and selected Swiss forward Nico Hischier at No. 1 overall. He won’t win the Calder Trophy but had a very fine rookie season with 20 goals and 32 assists to go with a plus-10 rating.
No. 8 seeds almost never upset a No. 1 seed in the NBA playoffs. It happens much more often in the NHL, including last year when West No. 8 Nashville swept out No. 1 Chicago. On this series betting line at Sports Interaction, the Lightning are -313 and Devils +246. The favoured result is Tampa Bay in five games at +273.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils finished one point ahead of the Florida Panthers for the East’s final wild-card spot, and New Jersey closed the season winning seven of its final nine. It has a Hart Trophy candidate in former Oiler Taylor Hall. Despite missing six games, Hall finished with 39 goals and 54 assists, good for sixth overall in the league in scoring. The 93 points were easily a career high. He was also plus-14. New Jersey’s No. 1 goalie had been Cory Schneider, but he was injured in late January and has lost his job to Keith Kinkaid.
Since Schneider’s injury Jan. 23, Kinkaid is 19-6-1, and in his past 19 starts overall Kinkaid is 16-2-1. Kinkaid’s last start was a 2-1 win in Toronto last Thursday that clinched New Jersey’s playoff spot. Schneider then started a meaningless 5-3 season-finale loss in Washington.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning caught a major break on the final day of the regular season Sunday. Had Boston won vs. Florida, which had nothing to play for, the Bruins would have finished as Atlantic Division champions and the top seed in the East. However, the B’s were upset 4-2 at home in that matchup. Now they get a tougher opponent in the Maple Leafs. Tampa Bay will not take this opponent for granted as New Jersey won all three regular-season meetings – each was decided by one goal.
The Lightning have candidates for the Hart Trophy (Nikita Kucherov, 100 points), Norris (Victor Hedman, 63 points and plus-32) and Vezina (Andrei Vasilevskiy, 44-17-3, 2.62 GAA, .920 SV). Captain Steven Stamkos missed the final few games of the regular season with a lower-body injury but is likely to play Thursday.
