Betting on the New
Jersey Devils to win hockey games in 2019 is a rough go. To put it mildly, the
Devils are simply one of the worst teams in the league to this point in the
schedule. But New Jerseys has actually won two games within the last week.
Small victories here Devils fans. Small
victories.
First the Devils
managed to scrape by the Winnipeg Jets, coming out with a 2-1 shootout victory.
Nikita Gusev and Jesper Boqvist scored in the shootout, aiding the Devils push
to forget an ugly start to the season. Nico Hischier tallied his second goal of
the season in the first period to help New Jersey (5-7-4) eventually rally to
victory.
In between getting
blanked by the ascending Edmonton Oilers, and beaten down by the Calgary
Flames, the Devils managed to win two games on their recent Western Canada road
trip. However, Back-to-back losses led the team to be outscored by a total of 9-2. After an ugly couple of days in Alberta, the Devils
were hoping to turn things around in British Columbia.
The Devils Head West Young Man
MacKenzie Blackwood
was the reason New Jersey came out with the win in Vancouver on Sunday, and the
22-year-old goalie’s save percentage has been on the rise after his
awful first week of the season; a first week where, admittedly, everyone was
just terrible. The Devils potted two goals in quick succession in the first period, scoring just 22 seconds apart and relied on some outstanding work from their
young netminder to come out on top. One interesting stat from the night to make
note of; before Wayne Simmonds first period power play tally, the Devils were 1
of 25 with an extra man on the road. Far from ideal in the modern NHL.
While the Blues worst
to Cup run is still fresh, I’m not sure the Devils are made of the same stuff.
With the Devils currently 8th in the Metropolitan Division, a long road to
redemption remains for this team. As the total number of over/under points
drops further in Vegas, the value lies with sharps who are ready to pounce and bet on the New Jersey Devils
to rebound. Bet the OVER on New Jersey’s season total points. A team with this
much skill won’t stay this bad for long.
