posted March 22, 2008 at 00:39 EST in NHL Betting Trends

The New Jersey Devils are riding high in the Eastern Conference right now, but anyone doing futures NHL betting has seen that they’re not riding that high on the Cup odds list.

In fact, the Devils are currently pegged at +1200 odds at BetUS to win the Cup this season. That puts New Jersey behind each of the Detroit Red Wings (+300), Anaheim Ducks (+600), San Jose Sharks (+600), Pittsburgh Penguins (+800), Montreal Canadiens (+900), and Ottawa Senators (+1000), and it ties them with the Dallas Stars.

And bettors probably didn’t flock to the Devils’ cause after their most recent outing on Wednesday. Dainius Zubrus was New Jersey’s lone goal scorer in a 2-1 shootout loss to the New York Rangers that day, with Martin Brodeur stopping 20 of the 21 opposition shots before giving up the SO winner to Nigel Dawes. That victory moved New York to within four points of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division as they head into the weekend.

Both the Devils and the Rangers will be back in action on Friday night, with New Jersey hosting the New York Islanders and the Rangers heading to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. The Islanders have lost starting goaltender Rick DiPietro for the season, and their playoff chances look done. The Flyers are still battling for one of the last two spots.

Two of Philly’s main rivals for the final playoff berths in the East are also in action on Friday, as the Buffalo Sabres host the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals play a road game against the Atlanta Thrashers. The rest of the Friday action will happen on the west coast, with Minnesota at Vancouver and Anaheim at San Jose.

The Devils will play against another division rival on Saturday, as they’ll take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The Pens aren’t expected to have star Sidney Crosby back in the lineup for Saturday’s tilt, as he’s still nursing an ankle injury. However, the Pens have played well in his absence as they gun for top spot in the Atlantic Division as well.

That Devils/Penguins matchup will start at 7:30pm ET on Saturday, but there are three 3:00pm ET matinees on tap for that day. Those contests include Los Angeles at Dallas and Colorado at Edmonton, while the Chicago Blackhawks will go to Nashville to take on the Predators. The Predators are still in the hunt for a postseason berth in the West.

Saturday night sees Tampa Bay at Florida, Detroit at Columbus, Minnesota at Calgary, and Toronto at Ottawa. As well, the Boston Bruins will be looking to pick up some crucial points when they play in the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens; Boston is trying to hold on to a playoff berth in the East, but they’ve lost seven of their past nine games to take a hit in the standings. Anaheim will play in Phoenix to finish the evening.

There are just two games on tap for Sunday, with the St. Louis Blues meeting the Blackhawks in Chicago at 3:00pm ET, and the Philadelphia Flyers getting a visit from the New York Islanders at 7:00pm ET. Both St. Louis and Chicago are pretty much out of contention in the West, so Philadelphia is the only real team of note in action to close the week. Check the BetUS NHL odds section for all the latest hockey lines and futures.

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