Posted at 1:00 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle +117 BET365 +110 Sportsinteraction +118 888Sport +115

New Jersey +118 over Carolina

7:05 PM EST. OT included. Let’s see if we understand this. New Jersey was favored in this series despite Carolina having home ice advantage. The ‘Canes would be a small favorite in Game’s 1 and 2 and would ultimately whack the Devils by scores of 5-1 and 6-1 respectively. The series then shifted to New Jersey where the Devils, despite getting destroyed by a combined count of 11-2, were priced in the -150 range. What?!!? The Devils would win Game 3 while scoring eight goals in the process. Game 4 saw the Devils priced even higher at -155 and Carolina would once again steamroll the Devils, this time by a score of 6-1. To recap, Carolina has won three of four games, all in blowout fashion (5-1, 6-1, 6-1) and yet New Jersey was priced much higher in their barn than Carolina has been or is in its barn. Now Carolina is a mere -130 tonight? How can that be?

Of all the playoff series this year (or maybe in the past 20 years), this series has been the most lopsided and uninteresting. Every game has been a blowout with the winning team winning by four goals or more. Once again, the results in these four games reveal just how luck-driven this sport is. New Jersey’s goaltending has been putrid for three games while Carolina’s goaltending has been putrid for one. However, the oddsmakers strongly believe that the Devils are the superior team and we know that because that trust has been reflected in the betting line in every game of this series, including this one.

Oddsmakers are keenly aware that the market reacts to results and in that regard, they are also keenly aware that the money will be pouring in on the Hurricanes today. How can it not be? If Carolina looks cheap to you at -130 (they look cheap to us too), then they look like a cheap price for everyone else. The enticement to bet on Carolina here is bordering on extreme simply based on the results in the first four games of this series. On paper, Carolina is absolutely dominating the Devils so why did oddsmakers make Carolina such a small favorite? We are not predicting a New Jersey victory tonight because we have no clue which team is going to win or get hot goaltending but the position the oddsmakers are taking on this game prompts us to move in. The entire hockey betting world will be on Carolina tonight. That’s a big red flag.

Sherwood

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