New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes Game 1 odds, picks and predictions

Analyzing Wednesday’s New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes Game 1 odds and lines, with expert NHL picks, predictions and best bets.

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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

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