The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes meet in Game 1 of a best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinals series Wednesday. Puck drop from PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Devils vs. Hurricanes odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Devils outlasted the New York Rangers in 7 games, including a pair of 4-0 victories in Games 5 and 7 on home ice. New Jersey lost its most recent road game, falling 5-2 in Game 6.
Journeyman LW Erik Haula led the Devils with 4 goals and 6 points in the Rangers series, including a pair of power-play goals and a shorthanded assist. Captain C Nico Hischier led the team with 5 assists and a plus-1 rating. However, big-time trade deadline acquisition RW Timo Meier failed to record a point in the Conference Quarterfinals.
The Hurricanes polished off New York Islanders in 6 games, winning 2-1 in overtime on Friday as the Under cashed in the series clincher. Carolina is averaging just 2.7 goals per game (GPG) in the series, although it allowed just 2.5 GPG.
Canes C Sebastian Aho led the way with 4 goals and 7 points in the opening round, while RW Stefan Noesen netted 2 power-play goals and had 4 points on the man advantage. D Brent Burns led the team with 5 helpers in the opening round.
These Metropolitan Division rivals met 4 times in the regular season, with Carolina winning the first 2 meetings, and the Devils winning the most recent 2 in the series. Each team won at least once in the other team’s arena, too.
[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 8:07 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Devils +100 (bet $100 to win $100) | Hurricanes -120 (bet $120 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Devils +1.5 (-275) | Hurricanes -1.5 (+220)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: +115 | U: -140)
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
Akira Schmid (9-5-2, 2.13 GAA, .922 SV%, 1 SO – regular season) vs. Frederik Andersen (21-11-1, 2.48 GAA, .903 SV%, 1 SO – regular season)
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff inserted the rookie Schmid into the starting lineup in Game 3, as the primary regular-season starter Vitek Vanecek lost back-to-back games 5-1 to open the series. It was a genius move, as Schmid went 4-1-0 with a 1.38 GAA and .951 SV% with 2 SO in his 5 playoff starts.
Andersen went 2-2-0 with a 2.53 GAA and .909 SV% in the final 4 regular-season games, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour elected to go with Antti Raanta for the first 5 games of the series against the Islanders. In Game 6, Rod the Bod tabbed Andersen, after a bad loss on home ice in Game 5 by Raanta.
Andersen stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced in the 2-1 OT win in Game 6, his first postseason start with the organization.
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 (-120) are slight favorites at home, and they’re a great play in Game 1.
The Devils showed off tremendous defense and goaltending against the Rangers, but they’ll be facing a team that also had tremendous defense and timely goaltending and is in front of a raucous crowd. This series is going to be a low-scoring affair with tight games all around.
The Devils have won just 2 of the past 7 meetings with the Hurricanes while going 1-4 in the past 5 meetings in Raleigh. The home team is 12-4 in the past 16 meetings, while the favorite has cashed in 6 of the past 7 in the series.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Devils +1.5 (-275) will cost you nearly 3 times your potential return if you want some insurance, and just cannot fathom playing New Jersey straight up. That’s way too expensive, however.
I think the Devils keep it close, even with a rookie goaltender still being a bit of an unknown heading into the second round. But this is just too high of a price.
PASS.
Over/Under
The UNDER 5.5 (-140) is the lean, although the cost is quite pricey.
The Under cashed in 4 of the final 5 games for the Devils in the opening round, and the Under is 11-5-2 in the past 18 trips to Carolina, while going 19-9-4 in the past 32 meetings overall. The Under is 5-1-1 in the past 7 games for the Hurricanes at PNC Arena, too.
[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]