Florida Panthers at New Jersey Devils Betting Preview
Opening Moneyline: Panthers / Devils O/U 5 goals
Time: 7 PM EST Wednesday January 20, 2010
Tonight in a match up of 2 teams heading in different directions the New Jersey Devils host the streaking Florida Panthers. Even though the Devils have 15 more points than the Panthers New Jersey has lost 3 in a row and the Panthers have won 3 in a row. The Devils are 5-5 in their last 10 games and the Panthers are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games.
This season New Jersey is 16-7 at home and Florida is 12-12-2 on the road.
The Devils are coming off their first shutout loss of the season in their last game.
The Panthers beat the Atlanta Thrashers in their last game 1-0 on Monday night while the Devils lost to the New York Islanders 4-0 also on Monday night.
New Jersey will have to win this game with their defense, as they only rank 18th in the league in scoring this season (2.66 goals per game). However, the reason the Devils are in 1st place in the tough Atlantic Division is their defense, as they rank 2nd in the NHL only allowing an average of 2.21 goals per game.
Devils' G Martin Brodeur (45-29 2.20 GAA save percentage 92.1%) will have to play well tonight since the Devils do not have a lot of offense. He has been legit this season, but he is carrying the Devils this season and the 37-year old leads all goalies in the Eastern Conference in minutes played.
The Devils need a solid offensive performance tonight from Zach Parise, who leads New Jersey in goals (20) and points (47), and Jamie Langenbrunner, who leads the team in assists (28).
Florida is one game above .500 and in 3rd place in the Southeast Division, but they are giving up more goals per game (2.92) than they are scoring (2.78).
Tomas Vokoun (39-16 2.50 GAA save percentage 92.7%) is one of the main reasons the Panthers are still in the playoff hunt and this season he ranks 4th in the league in save percentage.
The Panthers will have to play good offensive team hockey tonight, as they do not have one player that ranks in the top 20 in the league in points or goals.
Florida is 7-15 in their last 22 against teams with a winning record, has an overall O/U record of 22-15, and the total has gone Under in their last 7 games. New Jersey has an overall O/U record of 16-28, is 11-4 in their last 15 games against teams in the Southeast Division, and the total has gone Under in 5 of their last 7 games.
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