Betting On Rangers Devils - Rangers Go To Newark To Try To Keep Their Season Alive

The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers have been warring for five games now, but in Game 6 of their East Finals series, it's the Rangers who are on the verge of elimination.

East Finals, Game 6: New York Rangers @ New Jersey Devils – Friday, May 25
Sports betting line: N/A

Why New York Will Win

When you examine a late-stage NHL playoff clash and search for a way in which betting online can bring about a successful play, it's never foolish to trust the team with the superior goaltender. Sure, New Jersey Devil netminder Martin Brodeur is a sure-fire Hall of Fame inductee once his playing days are over. The 40-year-old Brodeur has won three Stanley Cup championships and has made a fourth Stanley Cup Final, all with the Devils. However, he's hardly the best goalie in this series. New York Ranger goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has stamped himself as the elite backstop in the playoffs, slightly eclipsing Mike Smith of Phoenix and Jonathan Quick of Los Angeles.

When New Jersey outplayed the Rangers in the first two periods of Games 1 and 3 in this series, Lundqvist kept the Devils off the scoreboard, enabling the Rangers to surge in the third periods of those two tilts and bring home a couple of victories. Yes, New Jersey has played some really good hockey in this series, and yes, this Game 6 will take place in the Devils' own building, but Lundqvist is certainly up for the challenge. New York's team MVP has not been fazed by anything that's come his way in the playoffs to this point in time, so why would he flinch now? The Rangers have the ultimate trump card in a late-stage playoff pressure cooker. They wouldn't want anyone else between the pipes. Lundqvist will carry them in this game.

Why New Jersey Will Win

Even the best online sportsbook in the country – the one you trust – likely acknowledged before this series began that the New Jersey Devils were a clear underdog to the New York Rangers. Yet, the Devils – who looked so weak and wobbly in the first round of the playoffs against the Florida Panthers – have really acquitted themselves well in this Eastern Conference Finals showdown. The Devils have created more high-grade scoring chances, working the puck within 20 feet of the net and getting players in open ice.

The Devils have pried open opportunities for odd-man rushes to a greater degree than the Rangers have through the first five games of the series. New Jersey hasn't always buried its chances, but the Devils have largely carried the play. If this team can simply continue to work the way it has generally been able to do in this series, it should eclipse the Rangers and rise even more in the estimation of hockey pundits who thought that New York had a sizeable advantage (not just a slight one) before this series began.

Who Will Win?

As in 1994, the Rangers will go to New Jersey trailing 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1994, the Rangers won on the road with gritty crunch-time hockey. New York dug out of a 3-2 series deficit in the first round against the Ottawa Senators. There's no reason to think the Rangers can't do the deed again, 18 years later. Take New York.

NHL Betting Pick: New York Rangers