Detroit Red Wings vs. Devils Game 36 Preview, Prediction, Odds
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings are set to take on the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night in Detroit. The Red Wings take a 16-12-7 record into the new year. The Devils sit with a 23-11-3 record to compare, but New Jersey is sputtering, having only won two games over their past 11. It’s a far cry from how New jersey began the season, but Devils head coach Lindy Ruff should be encouraged by how his team performed of late.
The Devils are coming off back-to-back solid performances beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 late last week, and despite losing 5-4 in a shootout to Carolina, but played exceptionally well. The Devils are led by Jack Hughes, who is having a tremendous season. Hughes, 21, leads New Jersey with 21 goals and 42 points. Jesper Bratt, 24, has proven to be the perfect compliment to Hughes and captain Nico Hischier. Bratt is second on the Devils with 37 points, a mere three ahead of Hischier. The Devils enter the night having scored 124 goals on the season, suitable for tenth best in the league. The Devils rank 5th with 97 goals against. New Jersey maintains a reasonable penalty kill rate of over 82% to go with a power play with a 9.1% success rate.
The Red Wings finished off 2022 on a high note coming from behind to beat the Ottawa Senators to the tune of 4-2 thanks to a flurry of three goals in just over three minutes to start the third period. Detroit enters the contest with 110 goals for, which ranks 24th, and 117 goals against, good for 19th in the league.
Detroit made some unexpected news on Tuesday when they placed scoring forward Jakub Vrana on waivers. Still, they will receive a boost with the anticipated return of Robby Fabbri to their lineup. Fabbri tore his ACL last season, an injury the veteran forward is all too familiar with, but he is expected to make his season debut Wednesday against the Devils. Fabbri has undergone three knee surgeries throughout his hockey career.
Detroit’s top goaltender Ville Husso is expected to return to the cage after missing the last couple of contests due to a non-COVID-19 illness. Husso is 12-6-5 on the season with an impressive 0.908 save percentage and 2.86 goals against average.
Detroit Red Wings game information and prediction vs. the New Jersey Devils
Game: Detroit Red Wings 16-12-7 v.s. New Jersey Devils 23-11-3
When: Wednesday, January 4th
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena
Where to Watch: NHL on TNT
Last ten games: Detroit: 3-5-2, averaging 2.9 goals while giving up 3.6 goals per game. Devils: 2-6-2, averaging 2.4 goals while giving up 2.9 goals per game.
Key Players Out For Red Wings: Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, Filip Zadina
Odds: According to WynnBET, the New Jersey Devils are favored to win the contest with a Moneyline set at -155 and the spread currently at -1.5. The -1.5 pays +165 to the Devils, and the +1.5 to Detroit pays -200. The under/over for this game is set at 6.5 total goals.
Prediction: The Detroit Red Wings have survived the onslaught of injuries they’ve suffered over the first half of the season. The return of Fabbri and the team’s fresh legs having a few days off should bode well for the Red Wings, but will it be enough? Detroit is 9-6-3 at home this season, but the Devils are a stellar 13-2-1 on the road.
In this contest, I like the Over 6.5 total goals and the New Jersey Devils on both the Moneyline and Spread. The Devils have seemed to right the ship of late and continue to prove they are very comfortable playing on the road.
Next. Red Wings will remain in the hunt as the New Year arrives. dark
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.