The New Jersey Devils sit atop the NHL’s Metropolitan Division and look to keep their lead alive tonight in an inter-conference matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks, who have put forth an impressive start over the season’s first month. The battle between Connor Bedard and Jack Hughes should provide plenty of entertainment as these two stars face off, so buckle up for this one at 9:30 p.m. EST.
Get ready for the action with a Devils vs. Blackhawks prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Wednesday night.
Devils vs. Blackhawks prediction, preview
New Jersey Devils
New Jersey entered the campaign with hopes of taking strides as a contender. As the 1/4 mark of the season approaches soon, the Devils are tied for second in points percentage at .719 and sit behind only the Colorado Avalanche, one of the NHL’s most dominant teams. The results are encouraging with a top-10 scoring mark of 3.31 GF/GM along with the league’s sixth-best power play hitting at 25.6%. Nobody’s emerged with superstar-level production yet, but Jack Hughes leads the team with 18 points and 10 goals, followed closely by Jesper Bratt with 16 points and a team-high 11 assists. Dawson Mercer, a 24-year-old winger on the first line, is on pace for the best season of his young career with 15 points and is a +7, the highest +/- of any New Jersey skater. Defensively, the Devils are 13th with 2.94 GA/GM with the fifth-best PK% at 85.7%. Defenseman Luke Hughes has notched eight points, but the play of goaltender Jacob Markstrom may cause problems with a 3.82 GAA and .872 SV%.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks were expected to take a step forward this season and have lived up to that expectation thus far at 8-5-3. There’s no bigger name in that push than Connor Bedard, whose 25 points (9G/16A) rank third among all NHL skaters. However, Tyler Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky have 14 points apiece while three additional Chicago skaters have 11. The Blackhawks are tied for 10th in scoring with 3.31 GF/GM with a near-identical PP% to tonight’s opponent at 25.5%. They’re quite strong defensively as well, ranking third with 2.50 GA/GM and eighth in PK% at 83.9%. Among defensemen, Artyom Levshunov leads with nine points. Goaltender Spencer Knight has played excellent hockey in net himself with a 2.33 GAA and .926 SV% in 11 appearances as well, both in line to set new career-highs for the 24-year-old. The decision to extend the netminder seems to have been a prudent one through the first month of the campaign with Knight locked down on a three-year deal running through 2028-29.
Devils vs. Blackhawks pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Devils as -155 road favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Blackhawks enter with +130 odds to win outright. The total sits at 6.5 combined goals for the battle between top-10 offenses.
Bedard is on a superstar’s pace in points so far, and it seems he’s truly taken the leap to the next level. He’s a team-best +10 and has absolutely led the way in Chicago’s jump to above .500, and the first-line pairing of he, Bertuzzi and Burakovsky are quite formidable. However, the latter didn’t practice on Wednesday while dealing with an undisclosed injury, so his status is called into question for this contest. Still, this is clearly a good team and the Blackhawks’ goal differential of 12 is fourth-best in the NHL. They also have a stingier blue line than New Jersey as well as a much better goalie between the pipes, so there’s still a very solid chance the home team can pull off the upset.
Knight will have to play one of his best games of the season, but I quite like Chicago to win outright. With plus odds, the value on Blackhawks Moneyline feels quite solid and they also enter on a three-game winning streak with momentum on their side. In front of the home crowd, Bedard and his teammates should get the job done.
