Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

New Jersey Devils vs Florida Panthers: A battle for the top spot in the East

The Florida Panthers are hosting the New Jersey Devils today at Amerant Bank Arena.

The Devils play their best hockey in recent history

The New Jersey Devils are on top of the Eastern Conference with a 11-6-2 record, including 7-3-0 on the road. They have won 4 of the last 5 games. The Devils are ninth in the league averaging 3.47 goals per game and are ranked sixth allowing 2.63. Jesper Bratt leads the team with 21 points so far in the season.

The Panthers are still the team to beat in the East

The Florida Panthers are second in the Eastern Conference with a 11-4-1 record, including 5-2-1 at home. They have won 8 of the last 10 games. The Panthers are sixth in the league scoring 3.63 goals per game and are ranked 16th allowing 3.13. Sam Reinhart leads the team with 24 points so far in the season.

Betting Trends

The Panthers are 7-1 SU in their last 8 games overall, 10-4 SU in their last 14 home games and 6-1 SU in their last 7 games against teams from the Eastern Conference. Florida has played under the total goal line in 5 of their last 7 games against the Devils, their last five games against them and 10 of their last 14 games against teams from the Metropolitan Division while they have gone over in 10 of their last 14 games overall. The Devils are 4-1 SU in their last 5 games overall, 4-8 SU in their last 12 games against Florida, 6-3 SU in their last 9 games against teams from the Atlantic Division and 7-2 SU in their last 9 games played in November. New Jersey has played under the total goal line in 5 of their last 7 games overall, and 4 of their last 5 games on the road.

Prediction and Conclusion

This will be the second of the back-to-back games between these two teams after the New Jersey Devils won 4-1 two days ago to take over the top seed in the Eastern Conference. That loss ended the Florida Panther’s seven-game winning streak. Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Devils, and he is only two games away from joining the company of goalies that have reached the 500-game mark. The Panthers are definitely going strounger in this game, as they have yet to lose two consecutive games for the season. However, the Devils dominated that one and will not back down tonight. This will be a tight one, so we go with a tie at the end of regulation.