In 82 regular season games, the New Jersey Devils were never shut out. But in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Rangers, it took a Jack Hughes penalty shot to keep the streak alive.
We can forgive the Devils for their lackluster performance in the first game, as the playoffs are a different animal and they’re young.
But expect the boys from NJ to get back to their game. The Devils are fourth in the league with 3.52 goals per game and have scored least three goals in 72% of their most recent games (18-7).
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Opening jitters and heightened physicality have nerfed scoring across the league this postseason. In the opening eight games, the favorite team total went under all eight times. It tracks that it takes a game or two to fully adjust.
Last night, three of the four favorites hit over their number (everyone except the Bruins, who were beaten by Florida).
With all this being said, I’m confident the Devils can score three goals and you’re getting some help from the fact that they just barely scored once in Game 1.
Doing 3.5 (+135) at BetMGM seems juicy, but play it safe and roll with the over of 3 (-115) for the Devils team total.
