There were a number of impressive performances in the first week of the NHL season, but you could make a solid argument that the Arizona Coyotes’ win over the New Jersey Devils was the most impressive display that we’ve seen in the very early stages of the new campaign.
Not only did the Coyotes upset the Devils as +200 road underdogs, but they really took the game to a high-flying team that a lot of people are picking to win the Stanley Cup.
It’s no secret that Arizona is expected to be a much-improved squad in 2023-24 and its victory in Newark should add even more people to the bandwagon.
Arizona now travels to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers on Monday night.
The Blueshirts are -230 favorites after going 1-1 on a two-game road trip to open the new season.
Rangers vs. Coyotes prediction
(7 p.m. ET.)
Although they finished 27th out of 32 NHL teams, everybody around the league felt that Arizona took a significant step forward in 2022-23.
The Coyotes saw several key young players play the best hockey of their respective careers last season, and the front office rewarded that effort by adding quality depth players like Jason Zucker, Alex Kerfoot, Sean Durzi and Matt Dumba to a roster that had been extremely thin for a number of years.
With a proper supporting cast, players like Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz will not have to do everything themselves.
There’s a proper recipe for success brewing in Arizona and we saw a glimpse of it when the Coyotes thoroughly outplayed the Devils (Arizona won the expected goals battle 2.7 to 1.5 at 5-on-5) on Friday night.
After a near-flawless win in their season-opening win in Buffalo, the Rangers took a step back in Columbus on Saturday night.
The Blueshirts had a couple of goals disallowed after going up 1-0, but they were chasing for the majority of the first 40 minutes before making a push in the third period of a 5-3 loss.Â
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There will likely be a few more weeks of highs and lows for the Rangers as they adjust to their new head coach and that inconsistency will make it pretty hard to lay this kind of juice on the Blueshirts, especially against a dangerous opponent like Arizona.
Another thing to keep in mind here is that, as of the time of writing, the Rangers have not confirmed that Igor Shesterkin will start in goal and this could be a spot where Peter Laviolette will want to get backup Jonathan Quick some action.
There is a steep gap between Shesterkin and Quick and if the latter gets the nod, this line will move quickly toward the Coyotes.
With plenty of high-end skill, solid goaltending and impressive depth, the Coyotes are going to be a live underdog all season long when they get to these prices.
They already showed that against New Jersey.
The Bet:Â Arizona Coyotes +192 on Caesars Sportsbook (worth betting down to +165 if Quick starts)