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Online Betting Overview

There have been a couple of teams that have been lying in wait in these NHL playoffs and they have struck. In the West, the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes were not expected to make it to the conference finals, but yet that is what the matchup wound up becoming. The sports betting online experts did not expect much from the Washington Capitals in the East, but Washington came within one game of making it to the conference finals and knocking out the top-seeded New York Rangers. 

Then there is the curious case of the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils had played strong hockey all season, but the team never showed signs of being able to really challenge for the Stanley Cup. When the playoffs started, hall of fame goaltender Martin Brodeur shut the door in net, the New Jersey defense clamped down and the offense started putting the puck in the net. If your sportsbook review of the Devils when the playoffs started did not give New Jersey much of a chance of winning the Stanley Cup, then you may want to re-think your approach. The Devils are completely capable of giving the New York Rangers all it can handle in the Eastern Conference Finals.

New York Rangers

Even though the New York Rangers finished the regular season as the top team in the Eastern Conference, there were a lot of NHL hockey news writers who were not so convinced that the Rangers deserved a default spot in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers lacked consistency on offense as the season started to wind down and that inconsistency was carried into the playoffs. The Rangers have taken both of its series to game sevens and those series were against teams that do not measure up to the Devils in any area. Martin Brodeur knows how to win a Stanley Cup and Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist lacks that kind of experience. This is a goaltending showdown, but it is not going to go the way that the Rangers want it to.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils will do everything in its power to prevent this series from going seven games, but it really looks like it is heading in that direction. The Rangers don't seem to know how to put teams away before a game seven and New Jersey is going to have problems getting key goals through that New York defense. Still, the Devils will look to stand tall in this series and make certain that the Rangers earn every goal it scores. The key to this series for New Jersey is whether or not the New Jersey offense shows up and stays in the series.

The Bottom Line

New York has been scratching out wins throughout the playoffs, so these close games with the Devils are not new to the Rangers. The Devils are better-equipped to consistently win close games and having a future hall of fame goaltender in net does not hurt either. Click here for more information on the Devils' odds for winning the Stanley Cup.

Sports betting blog Pick: New Jersey Devils