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Edgar Chaput
New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes Game 1 Prediction, NHL Odds
It will be a quick turnaround for Lindy Ruff’s club, who vanquished the New York Rangers in a seven-game marathon that concluded with a 4-0 win on Monday night. Last Friday Carolina did away with the other New York region side, the Islanders.
This is shaping up to be an unpredictable series, at least judging by the NHL odds for Wednesday’s opening bout. Carolina is pegged at -119 and New Jersey -102 on the moneyline. The total is 5.5.
Devils vs. Hurricanes NHL Playoffs Betting Odds
New Jersey and Carolina battled all year long for the right to win the Metropolitan Division and home-ice advantage should their paths cross in the postseason. Well, here we are. And yet it is the Devils who are favoured on the NHL series board at -133. Furthermore, the outcome with the best odds is Devils in six at +410, meaning the series wouldn’t even go the distance.
The rivals had a quartet of tussles during the regular season, with each side winning twice. The Hurricanes won the first two, then the Devils levelled terms. Each side earned the spoils at last once in the other team’s arena. With respect to Game 1’s total of 5.5, the over hit twice during the regular campaign and so did the under.
We kept writing all throughout the Rangers-Devils series that this playoff atmosphere was new to most of the Devils squad. It turns out that didn’t matter, as they climbed back from a 2-0 hole and defeated a Rangers team with more experience. As for the Hurricanes, they were in the second round of the playoffs last year and stumbled. They look to return to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since the 2018-2019 season.
New Jersey Devils
Most pundits believed the Rangers would win the first-round series, and the first two games were convincing. The momentum switched on a dime in Game 3. New Jersey won four of the last five games, two of them at home, where they hadn’t performed as well all year long.
How does one get passed Akira Schmid? The playoff rookie earned his spurs and then some by replacing Vitek Vanecek for Game 3. In his five contests, he went 4-1 with a 1.38 GAA and two shutouts. The Devils showed they are a vastly more malleable squad than some might have imagined. At 3.52 goals per game, they were the fourth-highest scoring club in the regular reason. They only averaged 2.43 versus the Rangers, but they’re the ones still standing. No one went wild in the first round for the Devils, but several players came up big when it mattered. Jack Hughes scored the most goals with three. Nico Hischier didn’t net a goal but had five helpers, and Erik Haula tallied six points (four goals, two assists), the last coming in the 4-0 game seven win over the Rangers.
Carolina Hurricanes
By the time the puck is dropped for Game 1 against New Jersey, the Hurricanes will have been idle for five days. They’ve had time to lick the wounds earned during their six-game series win over the Islanders.
New York pushed Carolina as best it could, but they were one of the lowest-scoring teams to earn a postseason birth. Apart from the ludicrous final few minutes of Game 3, the Hurricanes never allowed their opponents to accomplish much on the attack. Both they and their second-round opponents are top five clubs for goals against in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how Rod Brind’Amour balances goaltending duties. Frederik Andersen only played one game in the first round, but it was the series clincher, a 2-1 overtime win. Antti Raanta went 3-2 with a 2.59 GAA. Sebastian Aho leads the team in points with seven (four goals, three assists). Paul Stastny scored three, including the series winner.
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