Bet On Kings Devils – Pucks Drops On Stanley Cup Finals In New Jersey

Sports betting players likely didn’t have a New Jersey-Los Angeles matchup in mind for the Stanley Cup, but the pair have proved themselves to be very deserving of a battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup and the series will start on Wednesday night at Prudential Center in Newark at 8:00 PM ET.

In normal years, the Kings would be considered the NHL betting underdogs for starting the series off on the road, but this isn’t a normal year as the No.8-seeded Kings have won all eight of their games away from home so far in the playoffs and have closed out Vancouver and Phoenix on the road as well. There are no logical reasons for Los Angeles’ success on the road other than great preparation from head coach Darryl Sutter and his staff, and his best players have stepped up to the plate, led by captain Dustin Brown, who has four goals and 12 points on the road; the Conn Smythe candidate has 16 points overall. The Kings are also going to need a big performance from Mike Richards, who has scored nine of his 11 points away from home and is familiar with the New Jersey crowd as he played in Philadelphia for six seasons.

The Devils have won six of their eight home games as they begin a playoff series at the Prudential for the first time in this postseason run. Playoff scoring leader Ilya Kovalchuk has been inspired at home with 11 of his 18 points coming in front of his own fans, but more importantly, he is a +1 on home ice as opposed to a -5 on the road. Captain Zach Parise and Travis Zajac have eight points apiece in New Jersey for the Devils, who have bought into the system installed by Pete DeBoer, but they will also need a huge effort from Martin Brodeur, the three-time Stanley Cup winner who was pulled in the Devils’ first home game of the playoffs against Florida, but has a 1.93 GAA on home ice.

Los Angeles are -114 road NHL betting favorites in this contest while the Devils come in at +103, and New Jersey edged Los Angeles 2-1 in a shootout way back in October on home ice, but that was a long time ago. While Brodeur has great numbers on home ice, Los Angeles counterpart Jonathan Quick has been brilliant on the road with a 1.56 GAA. However, neither goalie was fantastic in the conference finals and the one that pulls it together first will likely give their team an edge. Brodeur has too much experience to be nerves in Game 1 of a Stanley Cup final and that’ll be the difference, although Quick won’t be horrible. Go with the Devils for the online betting “upset” on Wednesday.