We started off yesterday’s NHL preview with news that a deal involving Ilya Kovalchuk was likely to happen sooner than later. No more than two hours into the evening’s action the trade wire started flashing and it was official: Kovalchuk was a New Jersey Devil.

The price on the Devils (-225) for tonight’s matchup vs. Toronto has no doubt been inflated by the acquisition but there are several sideline stories to be considered for betting this matchup. Revenge is the first thing on the Devils mind following a 3-0 loss at the ACC on Tuesday (Feb. 2) when Yann Danis got the start in place of Martin Brodeur. Dion Phaneuf was making his debut for the Leafs that night and made his presence known with a couple of hits and a fight in the first period.

New Jersey also has a couple of notable id="editor_cl"s recovering from a flu bug that hit the team including RW Langenbrunner, who is tied for second on the team in points behind Parise, but is listed as probable vs. Toronto.

Scoring has come at a premium for both of these sides and while Kovalchuk brings 31 goals in 49 games to the table id="editor_cl", oddsmakers are still listing the total at 5.5 UN (-125). It suggests that one superstar in his first game may not be enough to solve a scoring drought that has seen the Devils shutout in four of their last 12 games and averaged just 1.6 goals through their past 10.

And let’s not forget that before any of the trades these two teams played to a 5-4 final in OT at New Jersey just seven days ago. With Jonas Gustavsson starting instead of JS Giguere it seems that a dog-play on this game going to the high side is worth consideration.

Kovy’s ex-team, the Thrashers, are in Washington (-320) to face a Capitals team in search of its 13^th consecutive win. The stratospheric line on the favorite seems to be a trend this evening as Buffalo (-210) and Chicago (-230) are also netting high prices at online sportsbooks in their games against Carolina and Phoenix.

Only one game on tonight’s docket has a reasonable two-way line as Calgary takes its new stable of offensive talent into Florida (-115) to face a team who has had almost as much trouble putting the puck in the net this year as the Flames. The Panthers (2.57) rank 19^th in scoring, just above Calgary (2.23), who rebounded from a 3-0 shutout vs. Philly to register a 4-1 over Carolina Wednesday night.

Calgary went 0-0-2 in its past two road games, losing both in a shootout, and in the past three meetings between these two all three games required extra time to solve things. The OT-Yes bettin prop is paying +300 at sportsbetting.com.