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The New Jersey Devils were smothered in their Game 1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon.
The Devils fell behind early and never could get their legs going against Carolina’s relentless forecheck, and that was that.
The final score was lopsided as is, but 4-1 undersells how the Canes dominated the Devils in the opening contest of this best-of-seven series.
If Jacob Markstrom wasn’t sharp in goal for New Jersey, the scoreboard could have looked a lot uglier for Sheldon Keefe’s side.
Carolina is a -250 favorite to make it 2-0 on Tuesday evening, with the total set at 5.5 goals.
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Devils vs. Hurricanes Game 2 betting preview
There is no big secret to how Carolina wants to play.
The Canes have been one of the league’s most effective teams at 5-on-5 since Rod Brind’Amour took over in 2018, relying on a hyper-aggressive forecheck to keep pucks in the offensive zone as long as possible and creating chaos in front of the opponents’ net.
The way to counter this approach is to play a quick, clean game in your own zone and get pucks behind Carolina’s defenseman to create odd-man rushes.
The Devils did a terrible job of that in Game 1 and they paid for it dearly.
While Carolina doesn’t need to change a thing ahead of Game 2, the Devils will need to overhaul their approach from the opener.
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Devils vs. Hurricanes Game 2 pick
The Devils have no choice in how they need to game plan for Game 2.
With Jack Hughes on the shelf, the Devils need to commit to outlasting the Canes rather than outplaying them. It may go against their DNA, but in this matchup it’s their only hope.
Expect to see the Devils keep things much closer to the vest out of the gates in Game 2 and try to gum up the works to avoid falling behind early against a team that thrives on putting its opponent on the back foot after an early goal.
If New Jersey is able to weather Carolina’s initial surge, it’ll take the crowd out of the game and could give the Devils a chance to rope-a-dope a team that has fallen victim to that strategy plenty of times in previous playoff series.
Things may open up after the first 20 minutes, but I’m betting on a scrappy start to Game 2.
The Play: 1P Under 0.5 goals (+310, BetMGM)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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