The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes played the most lopsided Game 1 in this year’s edition of the NHL Playoffs.
The Hurricanes played an A+ effort while the Devils played an F- effort. New Jersey managed only one single shot on goal in the entire first period. Disgusting.
So, it begs the question. Should we bet on Game 2 based on the results of Game 1, or should we treat the opening matchup as a complete outlier?
Let’s dive into the odds for the second game of the series and then I’ll give you my thoughts.
Devils vs. Hurricanes odds, puck line, and total
Devils vs. Hurricanes prediction and pick
It’s going to be tough to not overreact to the dominant performance of Game 1, but that’s what we have to try to do here. Overreacting to a one game sample size is a quick way to lose money betting on the playoffs.
So, I’m going to stick to my belief that the Devils can not only hang with the Hurricanes, but can beat them on the road.
There are two keys for the Devils to win Game 2. The first is staying out of the penalty box. They’ve been terrible on special teams in the postseason and that remained true in Game 1.
The second key is that they need good goaltending. Getting back the version of Akira Schmid that led them to the opening round series victory over the Rangers is pivotal in them competing with Carolina.
If they can do those two things, we may see a completely different result in Game 2 on Friday night.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
