Do the Canes remain dominant at home?

It’s not a game with the devil for the Carolina Hurricanes, but the duel with the Devils also has its very own charms. Especially when it goes like in Game 1. They want to continue this winning streak in our Hurricanes vs. Devils tip for Game 2.

5-1 was the final score Wednesday night and it was a superior game from start to finish in front of their own fans. They allowed a full 18 shots from New Jersey in the process and other than a brief period of urgency from the Devils in the second period, there was little danger for the Canes.

While we expect the Devils to perform a little better on Friday, from a one-on-one standpoint we see the Canes ahead in this second duel as well. Especially since New Jersey is still not sure if their second best scorer Timo Meier will be back in the line-up.

So for Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils our prediction is another home win for the Canes, who would take a big step towards the Conference Finals. With their current form, we even consider them the secret favorites for the Eastern Conference.

First faceoff of Game 2 of this series is Saturday night at 02:00 in Carolina. The game can be followed live on NHL.TV.

Carolina Hurricanes – statistics & current form

This was a start made to measure for the Carolina Hurricanes, who didn’t have much trouble with the New Jersey Devils in Game 1. Although they also shot only 23 times on the opponent’s goal, but they also allowed only 18 shots New Jersey.

It is all the more astonishing how close the bookmakers see this duel again for Game 2. The fact that the odds are almost as high on New Jersey as on Carolina in the Hurricanes vs. Devils is surprising not only because of the home advantage, but also because of the one-sided first game.

Canes with significantly more depth

Before the season, the Hurricanes were already considered one of the secret favorites, whereas the Devils had only earned this reputation through a strong season. Especially in the playoffs, however, the greater individual strength often prevails.

Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, Brent Burns – all names that have been known for years as top performers and superstars. The Devils don’t have quite as much to counter that. Even if they certainly have the stars of the future in their ranks with Hischier, Hughes and Mercer.

The present still belongs to the Canes, which is also proven by the numbers. With 3.00 goals scored and only 2.29 goals conceded per game, Carolina is ahead in both categories – as well as on the powerplay and in penalty killing.

Best Penalty Killing of the Playoffs

In fact, there is currently no other team at all that can keep up with the Hurricanes when shorthanded, 95.0% success rate is a whopping 11.1% than their opponents from New Jersey.  Another point why we are betting on the Canes for Friday night.

Thus, for Carolina vs New Jersey, a tip on the Hurricanes is our favored betting option, with even bets with a handicap of up to -1.5 goals still playable.

Key Players:
G: Antti Raanta
D: Jaccob Slavin
D: Brent Burns
LW: Andrei Svechnikov
C: Sebastian Aho
RW: Seth Jarvis

New Jersey Devils – stats & current form

The Devils couldn’t really keep up their form from the series before in Game 1 against the Hurricanes. So little worked and even the previously outstanding Goaltending of Akira Schmid was no longer present.

Thus comes on New Jersey now before play 2 also immediately a correctly difficult question: Who stands in the goal? The 22-year-old Akira Schmid, who has been convincing in the playoffs so far, but has only 24 NHL games under his belt, or the 27-year-old Vitek Vanecek, who has the weaker odds but much more experience.

Is Timo Meier coming back again?

Speaking of questions, another question ahead of this duel is about the return of Timo Meier, who missed Game 1 due to a hard check in Game 7 against the Rangers. Currently, the odds are 50-50 that we’ll see him on the ice Friday night.

If Meier continues to miss out, then the pendulum is already swinging pretty clearly in the direction of Carolina from our perspective. Not only will New Jersey be without a 40-goal player, but they will still have the tighter schedule.

Game 7 against the Rangers was obviously still in their bones on Wednesday. There the Hurricanes simply had two days more regeneration, which should play a role again for Friday.

Chances must be used

Therefore, we don’t expect the Devils to get many more good chances than they did on Wednesday, which means only one thing: they have to capitalize on the few chances they do get. First and foremost on the powerplay – at 15.4%, one of the big weaknesses in the Devils game so far.

However, with the Canes being the best penalty killing team in the postseason, the matchup doesn’t exactly favor New Jersey, which is why for Canes vs. Devils, the odds on Carolina are recommended in every way.

Key Players:
G: Akira Schmid
D: Jonas Siegenthaler
D: Doug Hamilton
LW: Tomas Tatar
C: Nico Hischier
RW: Jesper Bratt

Carolina Hurricanes – New Jersey Devils Direct comparison / H2H balance

The season duel is currently 3-2 for the Hurricanes, if we already include Wednesday’s first playoff game. The Canes also hold a narrow lead overall in recent years – six of their last 10 games have gone to Carolina.

However, the biggest point in the Hurricanes’ favor on Friday is, of course, Game 1, in which the Devils already looked a bit drained, which wasn’t surprising after the Rangers’ tough series in Round 1. Whether they can recover from that is questionable.

Thus, we expect a win for the Canes, who could also take a 2-0 lead in the series. So for Carolina vs. New Jersey, a tip on the Canes is to be favored, whereby they should again score at least three goals.

Carolina Hurricanes – New Jersey Devils Tip

The Devils look a bit tired, the Hurricanes much more rested. This is usually already half the battle in the playoffs, because not only a full season, but also the first playoff games are already in the bones – and for the Devils, this is just a very tough Game 7 against the Rangers.

The Canes are likely to exploit this advantage again on Friday, which is why we favor a tip on Carolina for Hurricanes vs. Devils. Due to the surprisingly high odds, we don’t even need a handicap to still get excellent value.

Alternatively, over-points are also an option. Not because both teams are particularly offensively strong, but because the bookmakers here set very low and we trust especially the Canes at least three own goals (rather more). Between the Hurricanes and the Devils, the odds for “Over 5.5 goals” are in the range of 2.15.