Game 7 Rangers vs. Devils picks and odds: Bet on New York and the under

The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers have traded blows, forcing an all-deciding Game 7.

The pregame narrative: The goaltenders for both teams have been tremendous in this series, which has us targeting the under. New York has been most successful on the road against New Jersey, making the Blueshirts our pick to win. Thirdly, we’re banking on a goal from the clutch Chris Kreider.

NHL odds as of 2:32 p.m. on 04/30/2023.

Rangers vs. Devils picks

Best Bet: Under 5.5 goals (-132)

Igor Shesterkin and Akira Schmid are playing at extremely impressive levels, making it hard to anticipate much offence in Game 7.

Let’s start with the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner. Shesterkin had an unspectacular .916 save percentage in the regular season, but it’s easy to forget that now. He owns an otherworldly .939 save percentage in the playoffs, leading all goalies with two or more games played.

Directly behind him, however, is Schmid at .937. The 22-year-old has been excellent since being air-dropped into this series in relief of Vitek Vanecek for Game 3.

While somewhat surprising, it shouldn’t be totally shocking to see him performing this well. He did have a .922 save percentage in 18 games for New Jersey this past season.

With one team scoring one goal or less in five of six games during this series, bettors are wise to expect a low-scoring affair.

Key stat: The under on this total has cashed in three of the last four Rangers/Devils matchups.

Quick picks

Rangers moneyline (+102): It shouldn’t be a shock to see that the road team is 4-2 in this series. New Jersey had the second-best road record in the NHL (28-9-4) and New York ranked seventh (24-9-8).

Two of the Rangers’ three wins have come at Prudential Center, and Game 7 is familiar territory for New York. The Blueshirts went 2-0 in a pair of Game 7s during last year’s postseason with Shesterkin coming up big in both.

The netminder owned a .938 save percentage in those contests, turning aside 76 of 81 shots.

Kreider to score a goal (+175): Speaking of clutch Game 7 performers, we can’t omit Kreider. The New York forward has been sensational during this series, potting six goals through six games. And coming through in the postseason is nothing new for this guy.

His 40 playoff goals are tied for the 18th-most among active players. He scored three goals in the Rangers’ two Game 7s last year and is shaping up to be a key player yet again.