Devils vs Hurricanes Odds: Carolina Favored to Close Out Upstart Devils on Home Ice

Carolina Seeking to Punch Ticket to Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday

The New Jersey Devils were one of the best road teams in the NHL during the regular season. It will take another strong effort away from home for the Devils to extend the series. The Devils vs Hurricanes odds aren’t projecting that to be the case.

Carolina scored five times in the second period on its way to a 6-1 win to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. While the offense might have dominated the headlines with five players having at least two points, the defense held New Jersey just 22 shots in Game 4.

The series has been played mostly at even strength, with Carolina 1-for-10 and New Jersey 1-for-11. There have been twice as many short-handed goals scored as power-play goals in the first four games. The teams combined to go scoreless on five man-advantage opportunities the last time out.

Carolina goalie Frederick Andersen bounced back from an early exit in Game 3 by holding the Devils to just one Jack Hughes goal. Vitek Vanecek started between the pipes in Game 4 before being replaced by Akira Schmid after allowing five goals on 17 shots.

New Jersey defenseman Ryan Graves is questionable for Game 5. He has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and that resulted in New Jersey playing seven defensemen and 11 forwards in Game 4.

Carolina Hurricanes continues to play without forwards Ondrej Kase, Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen as well as defenseman Jake Gardiner. Goalie Antti Raanta is questionable, so rookie Pyotr Kochetov could be the No. 2 goalie behind Andersen once again.

According to the NHL playoff odds, Carolina’s odds to win the Stanley Cup title have moved to +250 after the Game 4 win. For New Jersey, the championship odds are now at +1800.

Devils Look to Cut Down on Generosity

It was not a performance that will make New Jersey’s post-season highlight reel the last time out as New Jersey had more giveaways (26) than shots on goal in the Game 4 loss. That could be one of the reasons why New Jersey is listed as the underdog according to the Devils vs Hurricanes odds.

Jack Hughes, who scored New Jersey’s only goal, led the Devils with six giveaways. Veteran defenseman Brendan Smith had four in while ranking sixth among the New Jersey defensemen in time on ice.

It is hard to score when you are defending. In the lone win in the series, the Devils had just eight giveaways, but they had 52 in the other three games.

New Jersey’s power play managed only two shots on three man-advantage situations. It was already a 5-1 game when the Devils went on the power play for the first time.

Veterans Coming Through for Hurricanes

Players who have been there and done that often will thrive at this time of the year and that is certainly the case as Carolina is a win away from the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 34-year-old Jordan Staal had two assists to give him two goals and four assists in the series to go with a +6 defensive rating. The 30-year-old Jordan Martinook had his fourth straight multi-point game with a goal and two assists. He has three goals and five assists after not registering a point in the first-round series against the New York Islanders.

The 31-year-old Jesper Fast had his second goal of the series while 38-year-old defenseman Brent Burns added a goal and an assist. The player of the veterans is just one of the reasons why Carolina is favored when looking at the Devils vs Hurricanes odds.

The best news might be that Martin Necas, one of Carolina’s talented young stars, had two goals to give him three in the last two games won by Carolina.

Handicapping the Series

When analyzing the NHL playoff scores, the team scoring first has won three of the first four games so keep that in mind heading into this crucial game.

During the regular season, the teams were only separated by one point in the Metropolitan Division standings so it would be a surprise to see the series end in five games.

The Las Vegas odds total has gone over in five of the last six games played by the Devils as well as in eight of the last 12 road games.

The home team has won four of the last five games with six consecutive meetings decided by at least two goals.

Six of the last seven games between the Devils and Hurricanes finished over the total.

Carolina needed seven games to eliminate New Jersey back in 2009, the last time the teams met in the postseason. The Hurricanes look to end things in five this time.

The winning team has led by at least three goals going into the third period in each of the last three games. Don’t be surprised to see things be a little tighter heading into the late stages of Game 5.

Neither Vanecek (.833 save percentage, 5.40 goals-against average) or Schmid (.824 save percentage, 4.21 GAA) has been sharp in this series. That will need to change for New Jersey to keep on playing. Carolina outscored New Jersey 11-2 in the first two games of the series so keep that in mind when it comes time for live betting.

The Devils are 26-20 against the spread on the road while the Hurricanes covered against the NHL betting lines in just 18 of 46 home games.

Carolina is 49-25-7 when listed as the favorite by the NHL odds while the Devils are 8-8-2 as the underdog.

When looking at the NHL playoff odds, the host Hurricanes are priced at -120 to close things out on Thursday night.

The price is set at +350 for Carolina to win the game in six games compared to +500 for New Jersey to rally and take the series in seven games.

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