Rangers Will Continue Dominance Of Devils

Devils vs. Rangers, 7:00 ET

Hockey has been on hold for me for a while because college basketball was winding down. With the success of that season and the struggles that I had on the ice most of this season, I chose to focus on that instead. Now I'm going back to hockey because we have very little basketball as the college hoops season heads toward the conference tournaments. I've won a matchup between these two teams earlier in the year and am hopeful we can get a second win tonight in a game between the Devils and the Rangers. 

The Devils come into this contest with a 31-29-4 record overall and they are decent on the road with a 16-12-2 record. The Devils are in bad form right now having lost four of their past five games. They've only scored 10 goals over those five games and they've allowed 19 goals in the same stretch. This is a little worse than normal for the season as they have allowed 3.48 goals against per game but scored only 3.30 goals per game. If we look a little further back on the schedule they are just 7-10 since the All-Star break. Most of their games are decided by the sixty-minute mark which isn't common for all teams and also indicates to me that typically they puck line games where they either win by two or more or lose by two or more. The Devils have a two-headed monster in Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes who have both put in over 20 goals this season and lead the team with over 60 points. They also have another five players with at least 30 points on the year. It certainly seems as though the team is either successful together or struggle together, and as we've seen, they are currently struggling. Websites are predicting that Jake Allen will play goalie tonight. He is listed as day-to-day so make sure to check his status before placing the bet. He was in the net against Nashville on Tuesday, so he might be okay to go in this one. 

NEWARK, NJ - September 28:  Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers during the preseason game against the New Jersey Devils on September 28, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.    (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images)

The Rangers are one of the better teams in the NHL an they currently sit with a 41-18-4 record on the season. Their record on their home ice has been very encouraging with a 22-8-0 record. They have won two of their past three home games as well, including a game two days ago where they took down a 4-0 victory. Overall in the last five games the Rangers are just 2-3 so it isn't like they are in great form either. However, keep in mind that this five game stretch comes on the heels of them winning 10 straight games after the All-Star break. Unlike the Devils though, this isn't the trend for the Rangers. This season, New York has been putting in 3.32 goals per game, but they are allowing 2.68, bolstering one of the better defenses in the league. They are led by Artemi Panarin who has tallied 87 points for the Rangers. Behind Panarin, the Rangers have four players that have at least 50 points. That's also one of the better marks in the league. There is a drop off after those five players though which is a bit concerning because it doesn't allow some of the other lines to score a lot of goals for the team. The team is probably going to have their main goalie, Igor Shesterkin, in the net tonight. He has held the Devils to just 2.01 goals per game this season and has a .945 save percentage against them in the two wins. 

The Rangers may not be playing great right now, but I expect them to win. Since neither of these teams play many close games, I'm going to take the Rangers on the puck line. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers go over the team total of 3.5 tonight. A sprinkle on over 4.5 might be worth it as well. In both games against the Devils this season, the Rangers have won by at least two goals, and they've put in five goals. Officially, I'll take Rangers -1.5 at +160 and I'll sprinkle over 4.5 goals at +200.

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