The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes continue their best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinals series Thursday with Game 5. Carolina leads 3-1. Puck drop from PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Devils vs. Hurricanes odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Hurricanes posted an impressive 6-1 road win against the Devils in Game 4 on Tuesday, pushing New Jersey to the brink of elimination.
Carolina faced a similar situation in Game 5 against the New York Islanders and lost a series-clinching game on home ice. It hopes to avoid another trip to Newark and will work hard to force the Devils to the handshake line while resting up to await the winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Florida Panthers series.
The teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes in Game 4, but the Hurricanes posted 5 goals in the 2nd period to run away with the road game. All 6 goals for the Canes were even-strength markers, too, and it was enough to chase starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek. Carolina outshot New Jersey by a 29-to-22 margin.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3012″ ]
Devils at Hurricanes odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 6:48 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Devils +105 (bet $100 to win $105) | Hurricanes -125 (bet $125 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Devils +1.5 (-250) | Hurricanes -1.5 (+200)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6 (O: +100 | U: -120)
Stream the NHL all season on ESPN+, with your team’s out-of-market games, exclusive games, originals and more. Get ESPN+ now!
Devils at Hurricanes projected goalies
Vitek Vanecek (33-11-4, 2.45 GAA, .911 SV%, 3 SO – regular season) vs. Frederik Andersen (21-11-1, 2.48 GAA, .903 SV%, 1 SO – regular season)
Vanecek was yanked in Game 4, but it’s believed coach Lindy Ruff will stick with the starter over rookie G Akira Schmid, who has been underwhelming in this series. While Vanecek has allowed 9 goals in the past 2 games, stopping just 38 of the 47 shots he has faced, Schmid allowed 7 goals on 36 shots in the 2 games in Carolina to start the series.
Andersen was pulled in Game 3 after the Devils besieged him, but coach Rod Brind’Amour went right back to him in Game 4. “The Great Dane” allowed just a single goal on 22 shots, and he has yielded just 1 goal in 4 of his 5 playoff starts to date.
Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!
Devils at Hurricanes picks and predictions
Prediction
Hurricanes 3, Devils 2
Moneyline
The HURRICANES (-125) missed the chance to send the Islanders to the handshake line in front of their home fans, but Carolina won’t lose on home ice in another elimination game. This team is playing better than anyone right now, and appears to be on the verge of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Devils +1.5 (-250) are very expensive at this price, costing you 2 1/2 times your potential return. You can’t risk that much on a team that has been blasted by 4 or more goals in each of their 3 losses in this series.
While I think this game will be close it’s best to just play the moneyline as we’ve seen close games to start followed by an avalanche of goals against one side in this series.
PASS.
Over/Under
The UNDER 6 (-120) is the lean in Game 5, although there is a risk since we’ve seen the Over cash in each of the first 4 games in this series.
Still, this is the first elimination game of the series, and defense and hitting tend to pick up as a series goes later, and the scoring tends to go down.
[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″ ]
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
[lawrence-newsletter]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1369]