Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders Game 6 Prediction, NHL Odds
The road team has won the past two games after the Islanders squeaked out a gritty 3-2 win in Raleigh on Tuesday night to extend the series. New York is 1-1 so far at UBS Arena in this year’s postseason and will need their home crowd’s support to force a Game 7 on Sunday.
The odds are as close as ever in Game 6 but with home-ice advantage, the Islanders are the slight favourites at -118 on the NHL odds with the total set at 5.5 goals.
Hurricanes vs. Islanders NHL Playoffs Betting Odds
Holding a 3-2 lead in the series, Carolina is now the -400 favourite to move on after opening as the -222 favourite before Game 1. With the series shifting back to New York for Game 6 and them being the favourite, oddsmakers have this one ending in seven games at -112 on the NHL Series board. The payout would be taking the Hurricanes to win, ending the series on Friday in Game 6 at +100.
Tuesday’s Game 5 was the second game in the series to hit the Under, snapping a streak of three straight to the Over. New York pulled off the upset as the road team on Tuesday, helping them cover the spread for the fourth time in the five games.
The team who scores the first goal of the contest has won every time in this series, making the opening goal that much more important. The first team to score is a pick ‘em but Carolina pays out slightly higher at -111 on that line.
Carolina Hurricanes
Despite outshooting the Islanders 5-2 in the opening five minutes of Game 5, it was a giveaway that lead to them falling behind 1-0 in the first. The Hurricanes finished the night with 10 giveaways, which ended up costing them the game.
Carolina thought they tied the game 1-1 on the powerplay at the end of the first, but a review showed they were offside and you could sense the life being sucked out of the home crowd. A good start is crucial for the Canes as they lost both games where they failed to score in the first period.
Paul Stastny tipped in his second of the series to cut the Islanders’ lead to 2-1 in the second period and Sebastian Aho scored his third of the series in the third to make it 3-2. Aho has 6 points this postseason adding to his impressive postseason resume.
Antti Raanta finished the game by stopping 19 of 22 shots, his lowest total of the series so far. He has not been amazing so far in the series, posting a .906 save percentage. Coach Rod Brind’Amour will likely stick with him for the rest of the series, but he will need to improve.
New York Islanders
The Islanders picked up forward Pierre Engvall at this year’s trade deadline and were rewarded for it on Tuesday, as the 6-foot-5 winger got the Islanders on the board midway through the first period. His tally was the first goal New York has scored in the opening period so far this postseason. Engvall would then assist on a goal by Brock Nelson in the second period, giving the Islanders a 2-0 lead at the halfway point of the game. After a bad turnover by the Hurricanes late in the second period, Mathew Barzal would rip a wrister for the Islanders’ third of the game, which would stand as the game-winner.
Ilya Sorokin made it look easy in goal, stopping 34 of the 36 shots thrown his way. He made crucial saves at big moments in the game to keep New York in the lead and was probably their best player so far throughout the series. He is rocking a .923 save percentage and has faced 30-plus shots in four of the five games this postseason.
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