Monday night will see the NHL Playoffs Game 1 between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers. The game is scheduled for a 8:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. Currently the odds have the Rangers favored to win the game at -130 (Risk $130 to bring back $100).

The total for this game is quite interesting and it's something we see from time to time later in the playoffs. Oddsmakers have set the total for the game at 4.5 goals and they aren't moving off it anytime soon, juicing up the over to a -130 and higher, which is a very overpriced, valueless bet. In fact, if you plan to play the over in this game, you're paying 20 cents more per dollar on the bet. The rivalry between these two clubs is alive and well. It's been 18 years since the Rangers knocked out the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals and ended their 54-year Stanley Cup Finals drought. Since then, however, the Devils have won three Stanley Cups all while Martin Brodeur has been in between the pipes.

For the Rangers, it's their first ECF appearance since they got a 4-1 beatdown at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1997. Both teams still play in the Atlantic Division and each won three games during the regular season against each other. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been a dominant force in the playoffs, even thought both of their series have gone to seven games. He does sport a 1.68 goals against average and has saved 94 percent of the shots he has faced. Brodeur has also had a pretty good post season, winning eight of the 11 games he has started and allowing just 2.05 goals against and saving 92 percent of the shots he has faced. Because of the goalie play between the two guys, it's easy to see why the total is set at 4.5 and now the typical 5.5 or 5.

We also have a nice matchup of bruisers on the ice with Rangers forward Brad Richards and Devils winger Ilya Kovalchuk. Both guys lead their respective teams in goals scored during the post season with Richards collecting six tallies and Kovalchuk having five. This game will dictate how the rest of the series will go as the two rivals battle for a chance to play for the Stanley Cup against either the Los Angeles Kings or the Phoenix Coyotes. It's a great final four in the NHL as none of the remaining clubs have been to the Finals in quite a long time. The Coyotes have never been there and are in their first Western Conference Finals as well.

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