While all of the betting sites are going on and on about how amazing it is that the New Jersey Devils made it to the Stanley Cup Finals as the number six seed in the Eastern Conference, the Devils are just treating this as business as usual. Regardless of whether the Devils or Los Angeles Kings win the Stanley Cup, this Cup winner will be the lowest seed to ever win it all in the NHL. Who was the team that will be replaced in the record books? The New Jersey Devils when it won the Cup as a number five seed. Betting on the NHL playoffs is a lot like Belmont Stakes betting in that you know who should win, but that rarely winds up being who actually wins.
The Devils has won the Stanley Cup three times in the franchise’s history. The Devils has won the Cup as a number one seed and a number five seed and it has won all of its Stanley Cups with Martin Brodeur in goal. The price per head sports experts are looking for the Devils to try and slow down the pace of the series and try to grind out wins. The only problem forNew Jersey is that the Los Angeles Kings may not agree to play along.
Offense
You would think that a team with Zach Parise, Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias on it would not have any problems scoring goals. But the Devils have had problems scoring goals all season long. Fans were hoping that the playoffs would spark the offense, but that just has not been the case. The New Jerseyoffense has shown signs of life throughout the playoffs, but the team has won the majority of its games by grinding the play down to a halt and keeping the score low. No matter who is coaching the Devils, it just seems like offense is never a primary concern. A sportsbook review ofNew Jersey’s last Cup championship in 2002-2003 shows that the Devils were able to score goals against the Anaheim Ducks when it counted. Devils’ fans are hoping that is the case in this series as well.
Defense
In all of the Devils’ 12 playoff wins so far this season, only once did the opposition score more than two goals. When the Devils play defense, it is one of the best teams in theNHL. There is a saying that defense wins championships, but the Devils are taking that to an extreme this season. The other problem the Devils will face is thatLos Angelesis a much more aggressive team in front of the net than any team the Devils have faced this post-season. The Kings just came off of a very physical series with the Phoenix Coyotes that putsLos Angelesin a good spot when it comes to dealing with theNew Jerseydefensive scheme.
Overall
The NHL standings during the regular season do not mean a whole lot when the playoffs start, so it is not out of the question to think that the eighth seeded Kings could win it all. The Devils have made an impressive climb from the Eastern Conference basement to the Stanley Cup Finals in less than two years. But unless theNew Jersey sticks can start producing goals on a regular basis, then that climb stops just short of the ultimate goal.
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