Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs is set to take place tonight in New Jersey. The Los Angeles Kings have not played in over a week so they will be extremely well rested heading into tonight’s game, while the Devils have also had 4 days off so they will not be able to complain about fatigue. The game is sure to be fast paced and will likely be a defensive battle as each team figures each other out. My NHL Playoff record currently sits at (29-25) for +6.36 units.
LA Kings @ New Jersey Devils
The Kings have been off for 8 days and this could have a positive or negative effect on a team that has been playing so well. The Kings did finish off each series in these playoffs very quickly though and jumped right into both the 2nd and 3rd rounds winning their first 3 games of each series after having an extended break so I don’t expect anything different tonight. The Kings are still undefeated on the road in these playoffs, which is quite remarkable having gone 8-0 on the road. As the 8th seed winning on the road was vital for the Kings and they have not disappointed.
While the Kings have started every series strong the Devils have closed out each series very strong winning all 3 of their close out games and they are actually carrying a 3 game winning streak into tonight’s game. Funny enough the Devils had to wait until the Stanley Cup Finals to get home ice advantage in these playoffs, so it will be interesting to see how they come out at home.
I like the Kings to once again dominate game 1 after a long break and really take it to the Devils tonight. The oddsmakers have the game pretty even, which means they still aren’t giving the Kings credit for their 8-0 road record in these playoffs.
Play: Kings -105 (5Dimes.eu)
The over/under on this game is also set very low at 4.5, which is almost unheard of for NHL games, where the over/under is usually around 5.5 and on rare occasions drops down to 5, but almost never to 4.5. I like the over on that bet because I could see this game being a tight battle that ends up somewhere around 2-2 and an overtime goal would force the over for a cash.
Play: Over 4.5 -125 (5Dimes.eu)
Written by: Niko de Jonge
Tagged with: Los Angeles Kings betting • New Jersey Devils betting