Bet on a high scoring game between the Devils and Blackhawks in Friday night’s matchup

With four wins in their last five games, the New Jersey Devils finally look like they’re picking up some steam. The Devils have been stop-start throughout the first half of the regular season, but they’ve done a decent job of staying in the mix despite some shambolic goaltending and poor injury luck.

Bookmakers like New Jersey’s chances to nab their fifth win in their last six against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night. The Devils are a massive -375 favorite at the time of writing.

Although their results have been underwhelming, the Devils’ statistical profile has been quite good all season. New Jersey ranks fifth in shot attempt rate, sixth in expected goal difference and 11th in high-danger scoring chance percentage. Those numbers tell us that the Devils are generally pushing play in the right direction, but it hasn’t made a huge difference because the goaltending has been so poor. New Jersey ranks last in the NHL with an .879 save percentage.

We’ve seen other contenders like Edmonton and Carolina get pulled into the pack because of poor goaltending, but the situations for the Oilers and Hurricanes seem to stabilizing, while the Devils are still searching for answers in goal. Nico Daws has started two of New Jersey’s last three games, but he’s likely just a stop-gap measure while the team explores the trade market for a No. 1 goalie it can rely on down the stretch.

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The good news for New Jersey on Friday night is that it seems unlikely that it will need a standout goaltending performance to beat the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks own the worst expected goal difference and high-danger chance rate in the NHL and it’s likely that they will end the season as the worst defensive team in the league. Arvid Soderblom’s numbers in goal are also not very good, so when you put all of this together you could see a pretty clear path for the Devils running riot and posting a crooked number on Friday night. And with uncertainty in their own goal this looks like a good time to back the Over.

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