The New Jersey Devils finished in 6th place in the Eastern Conference, but draw the Florida Panthers who are arguably the easiest match up in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Like it is so often in the NHL a 6th place finish is usually more advantageous in terms of potential opponents than a 4th or 5th place finish. The Blackhawks vs Coyotes series is another example of this.
New Jersey Devils Florida Panthers Betting Odds
New Jersey Devils -190 (Bookmaker.eu)
Florida Panthers +180 (5Dimes.com)
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Devils vs Panthers Round 1 Prediction
The Panthers and Devils had absolutely opposite finishes to the season. The Panthers stumbled down the stretch only winning 2 of their last 10 games to back into the Southeast Division title, while the Devils won their last 6 games to enter the post season with the biggest winning streak of all NHL teams. The Devils are a very good team and this shouldn’t come as a surprise this season considering how the team finished off last years campaign. The Panthers are another decent team, but they simply don’t have the star power to compete in this series.
The Devils have the high end talent up front to score goals with Ilya Kovlachuk, Patrik Elias and Zack Parise leading the way on offense for the Devils. These big three will give the Florida defense more than they can handle and Kovalchuk has the ability to score the big goals late in games that can change the dynamic of a series. If you remember the year the Devils traded for Kovalchuk before heading into the Playoffs you will remember that Kovy brought his A-game when it mattered most collecting 6 points while losing a 5 game series. This year the Devils have found their team game and played solid throughout. Kovalchuk and Parise have finally found some chemistry and I expect the Devils to light up the Panthers in this series.
In goal the Panthers have some question marks with coach Kevin Dineen not yet stating who will be between the pipes in game 1. Jose Theodore started 51 games, but lost his last 7 starts, while Clemmensen has been very good of late with a 1.19 GAA and 0.96 save percentage over his last four starts and one relief appearance. I expect the Panthers to go with the hot hand, but it shouldn’t matter with Kovalchuk and company baring down. In the other net will surely be Martin Brodeur, at least to start the series. He had another decent year with a .908 save percentage, 2.41 GAA and 31 wins. He has also played quite well of late winning his last 5 starts.
The Devils were a +19 in goal differential throughout the season, while the Panthers were a -24. This stat is another way to measure how good a team actually is and I believe the Devils are by far the better team in this series. I would be shocked if they didn’t pull out the victory and expect this to be a short series.
Play: Devils -190 (Bookmaker.eu)
Devils Keys To Victory
- Don’t Beat Themselves – The Devils are by far the better team and the only way they will lose is if they beat themselves. The Panthers don’t have enough weapons to steal this series without a Devils collapse.
- Play Within Themselves – One thing I am worried about is Kovalchuk pulling an Ovechkin and trying to do too much. The Devils just need to continue to play how they have all season to get the win.
- Shut Down Top Panthers Forwards – Fleischmann, Weiss and Versteeg slowed down in the later part of the season, but they have each shown they have the ability to put the puck in the net. The Devils will need to shut down this line to win the series and I expect them to do just that.
Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: Florida Panthers betting • New Jersey Devils betting • NHL Playoffs betting