NHL
NHL · Thursday 15 October
Rangers vs Devils Best Pick, Prediction and Odds
Bet the Rangers at +124. It clears our bar by 0.3 of a point, which is as thin as a bet gets.
New Jersey is -148 and New York +124 at DraftKings. Without the margin, the market makes the Devils 57.2% and the Rangers 42.8%. Our number has the Devils at 51.9% and the Rangers at 48.1%, close to a coin flip. The gap is 5.3 points toward the Rangers, and the threshold is 5.
Two halves near 50%
Our home win chance averages two numbers from 2025-26: the home team’s win rate in its own rink and the visitor’s loss rate on the road. Overtime and shootout wins count as wins. Games played at a neutral site are in neither number.
New Jersey went 21-17-3 at the Prudential Center, which is 21 wins, 17 regulation losses and 3 losses after regulation: 51.2% over 41 games. The Rangers went 19-19-2 on the road and lost 21 of 40, a 52.5% road loss rate. The average is 51.9% for New Jersey and 48.1% for New York.
Neither half gives the Devils much. They won barely half their home games, and the Rangers lost barely half their road games. A price of -148 needs one of those halves to be clearly lopsided, and last season neither was.
The two prices add to 104.3%, and the extra 4.3 is the book’s margin. With it removed, New Jersey is 57.2% and New York 42.8%.
That 5.3 is built from 41 Devils home games and 40 Rangers road games, all from last season. No 2026-27 result is in it, and it cannot see what either roster gained or lost over the summer. On a gap this close to the line, those blind spots matter more than they would on a large one.
The Devils at home, the Rangers away
At home the Devils scored 2.95 goals a game and allowed 3.02, so visitors outscored them by 0.07 a game. On the road the Rangers scored 3.17 and allowed 3.12, ahead by 0.05.
The Devils were the same team in either building, in the win column at least. They went 21-20-0 on the road, also 21 wins in 41, also 51.2%. Their goals did drop away from home: 2.66 a game for, 3.17 against.
The Rangers were far better away from Madison Square Garden. At home they went 14-20-7, a 34.1% win rate, scoring 2.59 a game. On the road they won 47.5% and scored 3.17. One more Rangers game, a 5-1 win over Florida at loanDepot park, was played at a neutral site and is left out of both splits.
Over the full season New Jersey was ahead. The Devils finished 42-37-3 with 87 points, outscored by 24. The Rangers finished 34-39-9 with 77 points, outscored by 12. Neither made the playoffs.
All 10 points between them came out of one-goal games. New Jersey went 20-8-3 in those and won 13 of the 16 that went past regulation. New York went 11-12-9 and won 9 of 18 past 60 minutes. In every other game the Rangers won 23 times and the Devils 22.
They met three times in 2025-26. The Devils won 6-3 at home on 7 March and 6-3 at Madison Square Garden on 18 March. The Rangers won 4-1 at home on 31 March. The method does not use those three games, and three is too few to say much.
Both teams played on Tuesday 13 October. The Devils won 5-4 in overtime at Detroit, and the Rangers beat Tampa Bay 4-1 at home, both final per ESPN. Neither plays on Wednesday. None of that is in the figures.
Pick: Rangers +124
Bet the Rangers on the moneyline at +124. The gap is 5.3 points and the threshold is 5.
The line opened at Devils -148 and Rangers +124 and was unchanged when it was read on 14 October 2026 at 15:56 UTC, DraftKings via ESPN.
What kills the bet
A few cents on the Rangers’ price. At +133 or longer they are a bet whatever the Devils are priced at, but they are +124 now, so the bet also depends on New Jersey staying at -148. With the Devils held there, the Rangers stop being a bet at +120. Four cents is all the room there is.
The Devils would need to be +114 or longer to become the bet, a long way from -148.
Lineups are the other unknown. This page states nothing about who dresses for either team on 15 October. Check before you bet.
The total and the puck line
The total is 5.5, with the over at -130 and the under at +110. The Devils’ games went over 5.5 in 40 of 82 and the Rangers’ in 39 of 82. New Jersey’s home games averaged 5.97 goals, New York’s road games 6.29.
The two over rates are 48.8% and 47.6%, an average of 48.2%. The over at -130 is priced at 54.3% once the margin is out. That leaves a gap of 6.1 points toward the under. Our method bets the moneyline only, so this is a lean: under 5.5 at +110.
The puck line has the Devils -1.5 at +170 and the Rangers +1.5 at -205, which is 35.5% and 64.5% with the margin out. New Jersey won by two goals or more in 22 of 82 games, and New York lost by two or more in 27 of 82. Averaged, Devils -1.5 lands 29.9% of the time against 35.5% priced, a gap of 5.6 toward Rangers +1.5 at -205. That is the same side as the pick, and a lean only. The call on the game is the Rangers at +124.
Rangers at Devils, Thursday 15 October, 7:00 PM ET, Prudential Center. Prices: DraftKings via ESPN, read 14 October 2026, 15:56 UTC. Results: ESPN, 2025-26 regular season and playoffs; Tuesday’s results read 14 October 2026, 15:58 UTC. Nothing here states who is available.