Hurricanes vs Devils Odds: After Emphatic Game 3 Win, Devils Favored to Even Series

Carolina Looks to Rebound from Nightmarish Effort in Game 3 Vs Devils

The New Jersey Devils seem to have mastered the art of playing with their backs against the wall.

After being blown out at home in the first two games against the rival New York Rangers in the first round, the Devils won four of the next five to advance to the second round for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012.

After losing 5-1 and 6-1 to Carolina, the Devils responded by scoring the first four goals of the game en route to the 8-4 victory on Sunday in a game featuring more short-handed goals than one on the power play. New Jersey hadn’t scored in the first period in the first two games of the series before striking for three goals in the opening period in Game 3. The Hurricanes vs Devils odds favor host New Jersey once again.

The Devils turned to Vitek Vanecek after rookie Akira Schmid started the previous seven games. Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen, who stopped 45 of the 47 shots he faced in the first two games, allowed four goals on 12 shots in Game 3 before giving way to Pyotr Kochetkov.

The Hurricanes are still priced at -180 to win the series with the Devils coming in at +160.

Carolina (+375) is third in the odds to win the Stanley Cup with the Devils (+700) tied for fifth.

Thriving on Penalty Kill

Who would have thought that the key to cutting into New Jersey’s lead during a forgettable Game 3 performance came when the Carolina Hurricanes went on the penalty kill?

The Hurricanes set the NHL record with three short-handed goals in the game. Jordan Martinook scored on a penalty shot while Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis scored in a span of 50 seconds.

Carolina has killed off eight of the nine New Jersey power plays in the first three games in the series. Still, the Hurricanes vs Devils odds list visiting Carolina as the underdog.

Carolina had just one even-strength goal in the game and that came when Sebastian Aho scored in the second period when the Hurricanes trailed by four goals. It was a reversal of fortune as Carolina jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-0 in the first two games in the series.

Stars Deliver for Devils

The top offensive players were pretty quiet in the first two games of the season as Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Dawson Mercer, and Ondrej Palat combined for no goals and no assists with a combined defensive rating of -20 in Games 1 and 2.

Led by Hughes had two goals and two assists, those five players finished with four goals, nine assists, a +6 plus/minus rating, and 17 of New Jersey’s 34 shots in a convincing Game 3 effort to avoid going down 0-3 in the series. Now the Hurricanes vs Devils odds have New Jersey favored in Game 4.

Timo Meier, who missed Game 1 and was held scoreless in Game 2, opened the scoring. Hughes assisted on that goal and scored less than five minutes later.

Hughes is the first Devils player with at least four points in a playoff game since Patrik Elias had two goals and four assists and Jamie Langenbrunner finished with a goal and three assists in a 6-1 win over the Rangers on Apr. 22, 2006.

Handicapping the Series

Six of the last eight games between the Devils and Hurricanes have been decided by at least three goals. Six of those games have been won by the home team with five of the previous six matchups finishing over the total.

Six of Carolina’s last eight games finished over the total and so have five of its last seven games on the road. Four of New Jersey’s last five games also went over the total.

New Jersey is 40-22-4 as a favorite with Carolina 7-8-2 as the underdog. The Devils have covered just 20 of their 46 home games while the Hurricanes are 19-26 against the spread on the road.

With Antti Raanta sidelined due to illness, Kochetkov came in after Andersen was pulled in the second period. Raanta is questionable for Game 4 for the Hurricanes. Carolina continues to be without forwards Ondrej Kase, Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov, and Teuvo Teravainen.

Defenseman Ryan Graves missed Game 3 with an upper-body injury for New Jersey and he is questionable for Game 4. His absence enabled Luke Hughes to make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut. Hughes had a pair of assists, although neither of them came on his brother Jack’s two goals while playing 14:28.

New Jersey went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen in the Game 3 win.

When looking at the NHL standings, Carolina was tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with 24 road wins during the regular season. New Jersey was third in the division with 24 wins on home ice. The Devils are 3-2 at home in the playoffs with Carolina 2-2 on the road.

The NHL betting lines list the Devils at -150 to win Game 4 with the total set at 5.5 goals once again.

The best odds (+325) are for Carolina to wrap this series up in either five or six games. The Devils winning in seven comes in at +350 with the Devils winning the next three matchups to end the series in six games priced at +450.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• Hurricanes vs Devils Game 3 Preview: It is Now Or Never As the Devils Return Home
  
• Stars vs Kraken Betting Preview: Veterans Deliver as Dallas Evens Up Second Round Series
  
• Devils vs Hurricanes Game 2 Preview: Devils Look to Bounce Back after Tough Series Opener
  
• Game Two, Panthers vs Maple Leafs Betting Preview
  
• Kraken vs Stars Odds: Dallas Is Favored To Bounce Back in Game 2 Against Surprising Kraken