NHL Playoff Preview – Someone Needs to Take the Lead in the Eastern Conference Finals

Sports Betting Overview

The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers are evenly matched in many different areas. In goal, the Rangers and Devils are very close. New Jerseyhas future hall of fame goaltender Martin Brodeur, but King Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers is no slouch himself. The online betting sites are also giving a tie in this series to team defense. Both teams can play defense and can keep the front of their nets clear. But there are two areas where the Rangers hold distinct advantages over the Devils; coaching and offense.

 

The price per head bookie experts point out that John Tortorella, the firey head coach of the New York Rangers, is also a Stanley Cup champion. The Rangers’ offense is anchored by talented scorers such as Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. Coaching and offense are two areas the Devils could never compare with the Rangers. But yet this series enters game five tied at 2-2. To some hockey observers, the elimination of the Devils from this series is just a matter of time. To the New Jersey Devils, there are still plenty of reasons to keep on fighting.

 

New Jersey Devils

The Devils win games in this series by keeping the score low and crashing the New Yorknet. A 5 dimes review of game four shows that the Devils were able to break out of that defensive mold and score four goals in a 4-1 win. ButNew Jersey cannot afford to keep getting in shoot-outs with the Rangers. The Devils do not have the fire power to play a wide-open game withNew York. As the series shifts back toMadisonSquareGarden for game five, the Rangers are going to do everything it can to open up the game and put a lot of pressure on Martin Brodeur and theNew Jersey defense.

 

New York Rangers

In 1994, the Rangers ran into similar problems that it is experiencing now on its way to its last Stanley Cup victory. Back then, the Rangers ran into hot goaltenders and teams that wanted to grind the games down to a halt. When the Rangers made it to the finals against the high-flying Vancouver Canucks, most fans did not see how the Rangers could keep up withVancouver. But the Rangers dictated the pace in those games and wound up winning the Cup. The same thing will happen in this series. The Rangers have been grinding it out with the Devils for four games and now it is time forNew Yorkto open up the floodgates and pick up the pace.

 

The Bottom Line

This season, a lot of teams showed that the NHL standings in the regular season do not mean much in the playoffs. The Rangers are the only team that was seeded in the top two spots of either conference that is still in the playoffs. As the top seed, the Rangers get the benefit of the doubt from the odds makers. If the Rangers want a shot at the Stanley Cup again, it will have to earn it from a very determinedNew Jersey team.

 

Pick: New York Rangers

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