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The Arizona Coyotes open their season as they visit the New Jersey Devils. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Coyotes-Devils prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
The Arizona Coyotes were one of the worst teams in the Western Conference last year, winning just 28 games and finishing with just 70 points. The issue was winning on the road last year. While at home, they went 21-15-5 last year, but on the road, it was just a 7-25-9 record. Gone are some placeholder players, and incoming at the likes of Logan Cooley and Jason Zucker. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz are back to lead the scoring, as the Coyotes look to take the next step in their rebuild.
Meanwhile, the Devils are looking to make the next step in their chase for a Stanley Cup. They opened the season with a win over the Detroit Red Wings. After a scoreless first period and giving up the first goal of the game, the Devils powered back. Jack Hughes scored twice in the second period, with one of the Power Play. The Red Wings would tie it up with a power-play goal of their own, but Dougie Hamilton added a goal with under five minutes left in the third to give the Devils a lead they would not surrender as they won 4-3.
Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Coyotes vs. Devils Odds
Arizona Coyotes: +1.5 (-122)
New Jersey Devils: -1.5 (+102)
Over: 6.5 (-112)
Under: 6.5 (-108)
How to Watch Coyotes vs. Devils
Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT
TV: NHLPP/ESPN+
Stream: FuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Coyotes Will Cover The Spread
Clayton Keller leads this first line for the Coyotes. He played all 82 games last year while scoring 86 points. He scored 37 goals with 49 assists last year. Keller was also solid on the power play. He scored six goals last year on the power play with 14 assists. Joining him on the top line is Nick Schmaltz. He scored 58 points in just 63 games with 22 goals. Schmaltz also scored six goals on the power play. Barrett Hayton rounds the top line out. He scored 43 points last year with 19 goals.
Logan Cooley will be the center on the second line this year. Last year the the University of Minnesota he scored 22 goals and 38 assists in 39 games. He also scored seven goals and seven assists for the U20 USA game. He was the number three pick in the 2022 NHL looking to impress in his debut in this one. Alexander Kerfoot joins him on the second line after spending the last four years in Toronto. He scored 10 goals with 22 assists last year for the Maple Leafs. Jason Zucker comes in from the Penguins. He scored 27 goals with 21 assists last year for the Penguins, having the best season of his career.
Karel Vejmelka will be in the goal for Arizona. He was 18-24-6 last year with a 3.43 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage. Vejmelka struggled heavily in the last two months of the season. He had a goals-against average over four with a save percentage under .888 for the last two months of the season. He also lost the last six games he played.
Why The Devils Will Cover The Spread
The offensive firepower for this square is amazing. Jack Hughes showed he is a potential superstar in the NHL. Last year he was eighth in the league in goals, while sitting tied for 12th with 99 points. He started the season strong in his first game of the year. Hughes has two goals in his first game on four shots with one of the goals coming on the power play. He did spend four minutes in the box though. The Devils went out and added Tyler Toffoli in the offseason, who scored 34 goals last year and had 73 points. He grabbed an assist in the first game with the Devils while also having two shots on goal.
The top defensive pairing for the Devils was also solid in game one of the season. Jonah Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton lead that top defensive pairing. Siegenthaler ended up with a +2 rating and three assists in the game while Hamilton had a goal with five shots. He also had a +1 rating. Nic Hischier sits on line two with his 31 goals and 80 points. He had just one shot in the game the other day, but Erik Haula scored a goal from the third line in the game. If the second line with Hischier, Timo Meier, and Dawson Mercer can get some production in this game, the Devils can win with ease. They were a high-scoring line last year but struggled in the first game of the year.
Vitek Vanecek started the first game of the series. He saved 91.4 percent of the shots he faced with 32 saves and allowed three goals. Akira Schmid is expected to get the start in between the pipes in this game. He started 14 games last year in the regular season, winning nine games and having a 2.13 goals against average with a .922 save percentage. He was also solid in the playoffs last year, making eight starts with a .921 save percentage and 2.35 goals against average while going 4-4.
Final Coyotes-Devils Prediction & Pick
The Arizona defense was also last year. They allowed 3.60 goals per game and while the top defensive unit was solid, the other two units were rough. Further, Karel Vejmelka struggled the last year as well. He will have to be better in this game to give the Coyotes a chance. Meanwhile, the Devils score well. In the preseason, they were dominant. They won all seven games and scored three or more in all of them. In the first game of the season, they put in four goals already. They needed just 27 shots to score the four goals as well. Arizona gave up more shots than that last year, so expect New Jersey to score plenty in this game. New Jersey does have one area of improvement they need to hit. The Devils allowed 35 shots in the last game. The Devils cannot allow that many in this game. If they can bring that total lower, they will easily cover it.
Final Coyotes-Devils Prediction & Pick: Devils -1.5 (+102)
