New Jersey Devils vs. Arizona Coyotes Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/12/2022

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: Gila River Arena, Glendale, AZ

Where to watch: Bally Sports Arizona-X, MSG+

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Devils: 25-41-6

Coyotes: 22-45-5

The New Jersey Devils are not good. The Arizona Coyotes are not good either. The Devils actually showed they are good much more recently than the Coyotes. Therefore, by law, the Devils are better than the Coyotes and are absolutely going to win this game on Tuesday at Gila River Arena.

New Jersey ended its five-game losing streak on Saturday in a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars that involved Nico Hischier scoring the go-ahead goal with 1:11 remaining. That win helped a lot of teams in the Western Conference that day, but it was just as important for the Devils to show some heart with Jack Hughes out of the lineup.

Ty Smith and Pavel Zacha added some goals, and the Devils inched closer to 60 points this season while having strong lottery odds. I’d say that’s a good win.

"We really did a good job this game," Hischier said. "Sixty minutes, not just 20, not just 40. This time, we really digged in, we were competing. Like I've always been talking about, just not playing 40 minutes. Sixty solid minutes and we got rewarded at the end."

Nico Daws made 27 saves in what was an overall strong game for the young goalie. It wouldn’t shock me in the least if Daws went again in this one. Just because if you’re the Devils, you want to at least show some sort of consistency down the stretch despite the injuries to some of your best players. At least Jesper Bratt continues to be a positive offensive influence with 67 points this season.

"We needed some good saves at key times, and I thought he made those saves for us," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said of Daws. "I thought his puck play on a lot of their entries allowed us to get out of the zone. I thought it was a real sharp game by him."

New Jersey will be taking on a Coyotes team that is not any better right now. They just gave up six goals to the Vegas Golden Knights -- and I understand on principle that it makes sense. The Golden Knights are a much better team and things do not make sense ever if the Coyotes beat Vegas in a game.

But to lose 6-1 in that fashion, especially with how bad Karel Vejmelka looked in net, there’s not much to be excited for with the Coyotes down the stretch.

"We knew it would be tough. They played extremely well, so a lot of credit to them," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. "It was really tough for us to sustain possession and make a few plays in a row on the puck. That's one of the best performances from an opponent we've had."

This is going to be one of Arizona’s last few home games before moving to Arizona State University’s hockey stadium next season, that sits 5,000 seats and is a true screamer of ‘I want to watch Coyotes games as much as possible’ vibes.

The only thing the Coyotes should be concerned about is getting better odds for the No. 1 pick. The Shane Wright sweepstakes will come down to Arizona and, likely, Montreal and if the Coyotes keep this up they’re going to somehow get the first best odds and still not the No. 1 pick. Life is weird like that. Devils win 4-1

Devils are 4-17 the last three seasons in April games.

Devils are 20-36 the last three seasons in non-conference games.

Coyotes are 13-27 in April since 1996.

Devils:

Yegor Sharangovich -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt

Tomas Tatar -- Pavel Zacha -- Dawson Mercer

Janne Kuokkanen -- Jesper Boqvist -- Fabian Zetterlund

A.J. Greer -- Michael McLeod -- Andreas Johnsson

Colton White -- Damon Severson

Ryan Graves -- Dougie Hamilton

Ty Smith -- P.K. Subban

Nico Daws

Coyotes:

Nick Ritchie -- Travis Boyd -- Nick Schmaltz

Michael Carcone -- Barrett Hayton -- Phil Kessel

Jan Jenik -- Jay Beagle -- Loui Eriksson

Andrew Ladd -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Matias Maccelli

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Dysin Mayo

Cam Dineen -- Anton Stralman

Kyle Capobianco -- Vladislav Kolyachonok

Karel Vejmelka

Points: Jesper Bratt -- 67

Goals: Jack Hughes -- 26

Assists: Jesper Bratt -- 44

Goalie: Mackenzie Blackwood -- 9-9-3, 3.29 GAA, .894 SV%

Points: Clayton Keller -- 63

Goals: Clayton Keller -- 28

Assists: Phil Kessel -- 37

Goalie: Karel Vejmelka -- 12-28-2, 3.47 GAA, .903 SV%