Premium NHL Picks: December 29th

Today we have 2 premium NHL picks for you.

NY Rangers @ NJ Devils

Who would have expected such a bad season from the Devils. They had acquired Kovalchuk and they seemed to have strengthened their squad. Injuries to Zach Parise, B. Salvador, Taormina and another defender Mark Fraser damaged them.

Devils are 9-24-2 this season while the Rangers are 21-14-2.

Devils have lost all of their last five matches despite having a great goaltender like Martin Brodeur. They lost two matches in a row on home ice. The first one was against the NY Islanders and the second and the last one was against the Maple Leafs. Devils allowed 9 goals in these two matches and they were able to score only two goals. They have had only one goal in the last five games. This is definitely their worst season in a very long time. 

Rangers beat the same Islanders team 7-2 on Monday. They outshot the Islanders with a season high 50 shot performance and they capitalized on two of four powerplay opportunities.

Rangers are 10-4 SU in last 14 games against the Devils on road.

I am expecting Devils to turn things around at a point but this match doesn't look like that point to me. Rangers already beat them twice in last two matchups with 3-0 and 3-1 scores and they are way better than the Devils at the moment. 

I will side with Rangers who are 12-6-0 on road this season.

PICK: NY RANGERS TO WIN [Moneyline] [WIN]

3 units @ 1.85

LA Kings @ Phoenix Coyotes:

Kings beat the Sharks 4-0 in their latest game to make it a four game winning streak. The last two road wins for the Kings were incredible. Shutting out Colorado Avalanche and finally the San Jose Sharks... Those teams are one of the best home teams in the league and the young talented Kings team gave them no chance scoring 9 unanswered goals in those games. 

Kings defense and goaltender Jonathan Quick has been extremely well. They have allowed only 6 goals in last 5 matches and they have had two shut outs in this span. They allowed an average of 24 shots on goals and it's also showing how good they have been defensively. 

Without the services of Pyatt and Sauer, Coyotes will try to bounce back from last night's disappointing loss against the Ducks. They are 2-5 in last 7 games and  they are way below 0.500 mark at Jobing.com Arena this season.

I didn't like how they played last night against the Ducks. Bryzgalov who just came out of injury was shaky in first period allowing three goals by the Anaheim Ducks. It was too late for the home team to come back from a 3-0 deficit against a team like the Ducks who are very good in protecting such leads. 

Coyotes are 14-5 SU in last 19 games at home against Los Angeles but I like Kings in this one. They are playing really good defensively and offensively. They have got a very good goaltender and they are coming off victories against tough opponents. 

PICK: LA KINGS TO WIN [Moneyline]

2 units @ 1.91 [best odds at betway.com]