Hurricanes vs Devils Game 3 Preview: It is Now Or Never As the Devils Return Home

Andersen, Hurricanes Hit The Road Looking to Go Up 3-0 in Second Round Series

Carolina left little doubt in the first two games while never trailing and leading by at least two goals for 69% of the way. Now the Hurricanes head to New Jersey looking to move closer to the franchise’s first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2019.

According to the Hurricanes vs Devils Game 2 betting preview, New Jersey is favored to cut into Carolina’s series lead.

The series has been played mostly at even strength, with just 10 power plays in the first two games.

New Jersey averaged just 27.8 shots on goal against the Hurricanes during the NHL regular season. The Devils went 0 for 13 on the power play and allowed four short-handed goals. Those issues have resurfaced in this series.

Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen has stopped 45 of the 47 shots he has faced. New Jersey rookie goaltender Akira Schmid, a star in the series with the Rangers, has been pulled in each of the first two games. He has allowed seven goals on 36 shots in the series.

The Devils have yet to score in the first period in the series.

According to the NHL playoff odds, Carolina’s odds to win the Stanley Cup title went from +450 to +300 after the Game 2 win. For New Jersey, the championship odds moved from +750 to +1200.

The Hurricanes are now priced at -360 to win the series with the series odds for the Devils at +300.

Offense Coming From Unlikely Sources

One of the questions surrounding the Hurricanes heading into the postseason is whether Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas would receive enough offensive support without the 58 career Stanley Cup Playoff goals scored by Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen as they are out for the season.

Jordan Martinook, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jesper Fast are helping to silence the doubters even if the Hurricanes are the underdogs according to the Hurricanes vs Devils Game 2 betting preview.

Kotkaniemi has three goals in the first two games of the series, Martinook leads the Hurricanes with three assists and four points and Fast has added a goal and two assists. They are also a combined +11. They combined for 41 goals and a plus/minus rating of +26 in 244 games during the regular season.

Power Shortage

Other than goalie Akira Schmid, the other surprising contributor in the first round of the playoff came from veteran forward Erik Haula. Haula had four goals as the Devils took out the New York Rangers in seven games.

Haula has no points and is -4 in this series. Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Ondrej Palat combined for six goals, 13 assists and 78 shots on goal in seven games versus the Rangers.

They have yet to record a point in this series and are a combined -17. That can’t continue for New Jersey to have any chance of making a series out of this. The Hurricanes vs Devils Game 2 betting preview is calling for a better outcome as the series moves to New Jersey.

New Jersey trailed 3-0 and 4-0 before getting on the board in the first two games and there will be a need to get the offense going in Game 3. The Hurricanes vs Devils series has been a challenging one for New Jersey so far, but they’ll have a chance to turn things around in Game 3 and make a statement on home ice.

Handicapping the Series

When looking at the 2022-23 NHL standings, only one point separated Carolina and New Jersey so the outcome in Game 3 should go a long way in determining how long of a series this will be.

The total has gone over in five of the last seven games played by the Hurricanes as well as in four of the last six road games.

The NHL betting lines total has gone over in five of the last six games when the Devils have been listed as the favorite.

Carolina continues to play without forwards Ondrej Kase, Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen as well as defenseman Jake Gardiner.

The Devils got some good news with the return of winger Timo Meier to the ice after he missed the series opener. Meier led the Devils with five shots on goal.

Carolina has won seven of the last nine games against the New Jersey Devils. Just one of the last seven NHL matchups have been decided by one goal.

The visiting team has won just two of the previous seven matchups.
Will New Jersey make a change in goal? Schmid has a save percentage of .806 in the first two games. Vanecek is slightly better at 85.7%.

New Jersey is 39-22-4 when listed as the favorite by the NHL odds while the Hurricanes are 7-7-2 as the underdog.

The Devils (-135) are favored to get their first win of the series with the odds at -130 to go under 5.5 goals. Expect New Jersey to come into the game like it is an elimination contest because having to win four games in a row, including two on the road, to advance would be asking quite a bit.

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