The Carolina Hurricanes (24-11-3) and Pittsburgh Penguins (16-12-9) meet in the NHL tonight. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Hurricanes are favored by -1.5 on the puck line, with the over/under set at 6.5. The Hurricanes are a 56-cent favorite to win outright, while the Penguins are listed at 45-cents to pull off the upset in Fanatics Markets.
Let's get into my Hurricanes vs. Penguins predictions and NHL picks.
Hurricanes vs. Penguins Odds, Pick
- Hurricanes vs. Penguins Puck Line: Hurricanes -1.5 (34-cents), Penguins +1.5 (69-cents)
- Hurricanes vs. Penguins Over/Under: 6.5
- Hurricanes vs. Penguins Moneyline: Hurricanes 56-cents, Penguins 45-cents
Hurricanes vs. Penguins Preview
Carolina Hurricanes
It seems like the Hurricanes can never catch a break in net.
While Brandon Bussi has been the unsung hero for Carolina’s goaltending, it’s main netminder Pyotr Kochetkov is likely to miss the rest of the season.
But that’s been the problem for the better part of this decade. The Hurricanes have such a well-put together team, but in net is where they will end up folding.
Don’t believe me? For the season, Carolina is driving play at a second-best rate with a 55.41 xGF%. Now, over the past few weeks, that play has declined, but the fact that it’s still second-best should tell you of what the Canes are capable of.
A lot of it lies on injuries, where their two most important skaters, defenseman Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis are out – Jarvis currently leads the team with 19 goals.
Sebastian Aho is the guy that will continue to make plays happen and has been able to get the best out of Andrei Svechnikov – someone who struggled at the start of the season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Even after throttling the Blackhawks by the score of 7-3, it’s not exactly a peachy time to be a Penguins fan.
Evgeni Malkin is hurt and Erik Karlsson is dealing with a nagging injury, while the best option in net is… Stuart Skinner.
I’ve tried to give Skinner the benefit of the doubt for years, but we just need to come to terms on what he is… not very good.
Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust have been anchors of this offense (with Rust helping us cash out on an ATG last week!), and Ben Kindel has been a nice spark every once in a while.
Yet amidst this rough stretch of losing nine out of their last 11 games, Pittsburgh is still playing a relatively strong 5-on-5 offense. In the past month, it’s playing to a 50.65 xGF%, but the defense has squandered with a 3.05 xGA/60.
Hurricanes vs. Penguins Prediction
I think what could really help the Penguins pull this off is the use of their special teams, specifically by use of their power play.
The problem is, Carolina’s one of the least penalized teams in the league so it may not be as much of a difference.
For tonight, I’m targeting the total here.
In 12 games this month for the Penguins, they have hit over 6.5 goals eight times, whereas Carolina has hit the over six times in 13 games.
Both of these teams have a lot of potential to ring up the scoreboard, so at nearly even odds, I’m going to bank on a high scoring duel.
Pick: Over 6.5
