New Jersey Devils vs. Detroit Red Wings Prediction, Preview, and Odds
The New Jersey Devils are on the road as they head to the Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday evening as they take on the Detroit Red Wings in an Eastern Conference matchup. The Devils (8-7-1, 17 points) are sixth in the Metropolitan Division and are coming off a 5-3 home loss on Saturday against the New York Rangers. The Red Wing (8-6-3, 19 points) are on a two-game losing streak after a 3-2 home loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. This is the second of three games against one another this season as they played back on Oct. 12 with the Devils picking up a 4-3 home win.
Devil on the Shoulder
The New Jersey Devils have gotten off to an decent start this season and need to start getting some more points on the board. They rank 12th offensively with 59 total goals scored thus far and left winger Jesper Bratt is leading the offense with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) right now and scored four points in his last three games. In his previous game against the New York Rangers, he finished with an assist on four shots in 19:42 on the ice. They are absolutely incredible on the power play right now as they have converted on 23-of-59 (38.98 percent) of their attempts up to this point.
Vitek Vancek is expected to be the starter inside the crease for this matchup and has been struggling so far. On the season, he is 7-4-0 with 3.38 goals given up and a .889 save percentage. He needs to bounce back after his last game against the New York Rangers as he allowed four goals on 34 shot attempts in a losing effort. The Devils has been a struggling defensive team as their 62 goals allowed ranks 24th in the league. They are hovering around league average in terms of penalty kills as they have killed 44-of-57 (77.19 percent) of penalties against them
Injury Report for New Jersey
Right winger Timo Meier: Undisclosed (Questionable)
Goalie Nico Daws: Hip (OUT)
Forward Nolan Foote: Upper Body (OUT)
Forward Brian Halonen: Lower Body (OUT)
Forward Nico Hischier: Upper Body (OUT)
Red Wings Doing Well
The Detroit Red Wings have been dominant on the offensive side of the ice as they are eighth in the NHL with 61 goals scored right now. Right winger Alex DeBrincat has gotten off to a good start as he has 17 points (11 goals, six assists) and recorded three points in his last three games. He recorded an assist on four shots during his 17:43 on the ice last time out against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Their power play has been hovering right around the NHL average as they converted on 14-of-70 (20.00 percent) of their attempts so they should play pretty well in this game.
Ville Husso has been struggling and is expected to be between the pipes for this game. He has struggled as he is 6-3-1 with a .885 save percentage and 3.61 goals allowed per game. He was strong in the net last time out against the Columbus Blue Jackets as he gave up four goals on 22 shot attempts in a win. As a team, Detroit ranks 19th in hockey with 57 goals allowed as well. They have been doing killing penalties at a decent level so far. They have killed 52-of-66 (78.79 percent) so far as they should play well on this side of the ice.
Injury Report for Detroit
Forward Matt Luff: Upper Body (OUT)
Defenseman Jake Walman: Undisclosed (Questionable)
Best Bets
Full-Game Side Bet
Rating:
The ability to win faceoffs gives your team a distinct advantage throughout the game as that team gets the offensive attack. The Devils are sixth in the sport with a 52.8 faceoff win percentage while the Red Wings are 20th with a 49.6 faceoff win percentage so far. These offenses have been similar as New Jersey is averaging 3.67 goals in their previous three games while Detroit is scoring 3.25 goals in their last four games. The road team has won five of the last six games against one another so go with the New Jersey Devils to win on the road in this game.
Prediction: New Jersey Devils -162
Full-Game Total Pick
Rating:
Both of these offenses have been putting up a good amount of shots this season as the Red Wings are 15th with 31.0 shot attempts per game while the Devils are eighth with 32.6 shot attempts per game up to this point. The defenses in the previous five games have been struggling as New Jersey is giving up 4.6 goals per game while Detroit is allowing four goals per game in that stretch. The over has hit in four of the previous five games against one another so go with OVER 6.5 GOALS in this game to hit.
Prediction: Over 6.5
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