Scott Rickenbach 10/5
Watch-n-Win ROUT 100% RUN!
NEW JERSEY DEVILS0 Goals (-125) over New York Rangers
While the Rangers are coming off of a solid home win over Ottawa on Saturday, the Devils got crushed 5-2 by the Flyers that same night. We love riding New Jersey in a bounce back spot like this. Look for goalie Martin Brodeur and the entire club to bounce back here. The Devils are 124-90 over the last three seasons when they’re coming off a loss that game by a multiple goal margin. As for the Rangers, note that goalie Henrik Lundqvist has long had a reputation for being much stronger on home ice than on the road. The Rangers, when on the road with a total of 5.5, have gone a money-losing 20-33 over the last three seasons. There is definitely line value in this spot with the Devils laying a short price at home. We know there is going to be some adjusting on the part of the Devils early this season as Jacques Lemaire is now behind the bench. However, we also know that the Rangers really don’t have much in the way of secondary scoring and – just as they are not as good as their 5-2 win over the Senators Saturday, the Devils certainly aren’t as bad as their 5-2 loss against the Flyers Saturday! This is where you get early season value is a spot like this. The Rangers are projected to be among the weaker teams in the East this season while, conversely, the Devils should make a big push this season with Brodeur back between the pipes and a new system in place under coach Lemaire – whose philosophy fits in perfectly with the Devils long-standing tradition of a defense-first style. After getting “lit up” in game one, we absolutely expect the Devils to bounce back with a strong effort. So many times a game can “snowball” on a team and after New Jersey didn’t score on an early two man advantage against the Flyers it seemed that Philly got a big boost from that point forward while the Devils all of the sudden lost confidence. The Devils did play well early and, after a ugly home loss, we expect them to sustain a strong effort for the full three periods in this one against a hated rival. Even though the Devils are without Patrik Elias, the Rangers are without Sean Avery and we like the depth of the Devils lines moreso than what the Rangers possess. For the Rangers there is a big dropoff in talent level after the top two lines. The Devils did lose their last match-up against the Rangers in their season series last season but they had previously taken three straight in this series by a combined score of 15 to 7. That is the type of dominance we expect from the hungry Devils tonight. Brodeur was 12-3-1 with a 1.98 GAA at home last season while the Rangers Lundqvist is 89-40-15 at home but just 54-44-19 on the road in his career. Note that this equates to just 54-63 on the road in terms of winning tickets for Lundqvist and the Rangers. The Devils are offering great “low odds” value at home here. Play New Jersey on the money line as a 6* Regular Play selection.