The Carolina Hurricanes have completely dominated the first two games of their series against the New Jersey Devils, winning them by a combined score of 11-2.
If there’s anything that the Devils can lean on it’s that they were also down 0-2 in the first two games against the New York Rangers in the opening round.
The series now heads to the Prudential Center for Game 3 and Game 4, and the Devils need to win at least one of the two home games to avoid the 4-0 sweep.
Can they get a win on Sunday to get back in the series? Let’s dive into the odds for Game 3.
Hurricanes vs. Devils odds, puck line, and total
Hurricanes vs. Devils prediction and pick
The Devils’ lack of playoff experience has begun to show in this series, but I don’t think we should completely count them out and assume they’ll get swept despite two terrible performances in Carolina.
This team was too successful in the regular season to not put up a fight. They were right behind the Hurricanes in almost every major advanced metric, while also being the much better overall shooting team.
If there’s any positives to take away from the first two games, it’s that the Panthers are only averaging 1.82 more high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play.
The biggest thing that needs to happen for things to turn around is for New Jersey to receive better goaltending. Akira Schmid has stumbled in his first two starts this series while Frederick Andersen of the Hurricanes has completely stood on his head.
If Schmid regains the momentum he had in Round 1 and Andersen regresses to his regular season statistics, there’ll be an opening for them to back back in this series.
I’ll back the Devils as home favorites to get on track in Game 3.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
