Rangers vs. Devils prediction: Goalies will come up big again in Game 5

NHL bettors who have rolled the dice on the road underdog in the Rangers vs. Devils series have been rewarded with a tidy profit.

Because the road underdog is a perfect 4-for-4 in this opening-round best-of-7 rivalry scrap.

So with the series shifting back across the Hudson River from Manhattan to Newark, New Jersey, for Game 5 on Thursday night, the no-brainer move is to bet the visiting Rangers … right?

Maybe, but that’s not how we’re playing it.

Rather than get involved with a side in what oddsmakers have essentially pegged a pick-em game, we’re recommending a wagering strategy that served us well in Game 4: Bet on both goaltenders to steal the show.

Odds updated as of 12:15 p.m. ET on April 27.

While the road underdog has taken the first four games of this series, the total has split 2-2.

The first two contests in New Jersey — a pair of 5-1 Rangers victories — barely ticked Over the 5.5-goal total. Then Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden stayed well below the total, as the Devils prevailed 2-1 (in overtime) and 3-1.

But a deep examination of this intense matchup reveals just how close we’ve come to seeing all four Unders cash.

In Game 1, the Rangers had a 3-0 lead past the midpoint of the third period. Then they scored a power-play goal with less than nine minutes to play to make it 4-0.

That score held until less than three minutes remained, when New York was called for an infraction that resulted in a penalty shot. After Jack Hughes converted to get New Jersey on the scoreboard, the Devils pulled goaltender Vitek Vanecek.

It took the Rangers less than a minute to pot an Over-cashing empty-netter for a 5-1 final.

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Jump ahead to Game 2, when New York erased a 1-0 first-period deficit with three second-period goals, with a fourth coming 6 1/2 minutes into the third.

That 4-1 score didn’t budge until less than six minutes remained, when New York put the puck in the net one final time to clear the 5.5-goal total and burn Under bettors again.

As the final scores of those first two games indicate, Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was a brick wall in New Jersey. Vanecek? Not so much.

So the Devils benched their No. 1 netminder in favor of third-string rookie Akira Schmid ahead of Game 3. The move paid off big time.

Thanks in part to a much stronger defensive commitment by New Jersey’s skaters, Schmid stopped 57 of the 59 shots he faced in Games 3 and 4 at The Garden. He also became just the second goaltender in franchise history to win his first two playoff starts — and he did it on the road in virtual must-win games.

Lost in Schmid’s terrific performances the last two games is the fact that Shesterkin was nearly as solid.

The reigning Vezina Trophy winner surrendered just three goals in regulation in Games 3 and 4. New Jersey’s other two tallies came in overtime and against an empty net.

In all, Shesterkin has limited the explosive Devils offense to six goals — including one penalty shot and one power-play goal — in four games. That’s the same number of goals he surrendered to New Jersey during the regular season, but in just two games.

So Shesterkin is clearly in top form. At the same time, the 22-year-old Schmid has clearly proven that he can handle the immense pressure that comes when your team is down 2-0 in a playoff series.

There’s zero reason to believe that either netminder will crack in Game 5. Just as there’s zero reason to believe that Thursday’s contest won’t be a 60-minute, dump-and-chase defensive battle featuring a lot of conservative hockey and very little risk taking.

The result should be a third consecutive low-scoring game that delivers a third consecutive Under.

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