New York Islanders vs. Carolina Hurricanes Game 5 Prediction, NHL Odds
After dropping Game 3 in New York, Carolina’s road record dating back to the 2022 postseason fell to 0-7, a strong effort in Game 4 exercised those demons as they smashed the Isles 5-2.
Games 1 and 2 were very tight, being decided by a single goal and their past two meetings had much more separation. Do not let those recent scores fool you though, this is still a tight matchup between two squads that put defence first. The series shifts back to Carolina Tuesday night making them the -160 favourite on the NHL odds with the total set at 5.5 goals.
Islanders vs. Hurricanes NHL Betting Odds
The Islanders were the favourite to win in Sunday’s Game 4 but ended up losing, breaking a streak of six straight head-to-heads where the odds-on favourite took the win. The last game was also the first time in the series that New York failed to cover the spread, bumping them to 5-3 ATS in their past eight matchups with Carolina. The Islanders are the -205 favourite to cover the +1.5 spread on the Puckline Tuesday night as this one is expected to be another close game.
The 5-2 final in Game 4 was the third straight game to play Over the total of 5 in this series, forcing oddsmakers to bump it up slightly to 5.5. 79 percent of early bettors are sticking to the status quo and putting their money on the Over at +118.
New York Islanders
New York will be looking for a quick turnaround after taking their worst loss of the post-season so far on Sunday afternoon. They head back to PNC Arena in Carolina Tuesday night after dropping Games 1 and 2 but kept both contests close, losing by just a lone goal in both outings.
Defenceman Adam Pelech broke the Canes shutout 3:14 into the third period in Game 4 and Bo Horvat scored his first of the postseason shorthanded in the final minutes. Horvat has been snake bitten all series and finally got on the scoreboard after countless opportunities in the first few games. He is a key piece to this New York offence and they better hope he can catch fire for them.
The Islanders have scored most of their goals in the final periods over the past few games and will really need to focus on coming out of the gate a bit better. The first team to score has won every game so far this series and the one time the Isles have done it, they broke a scoreless tie in the second period.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes’ powerplay has been crucial to the team’s success and it continued in Game 4, scoring the first two goals of the game, one from Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas with the other. That got the offence started for Carolina as Sebastian Aho would then score his 20th career postseason goal, setting a new franchise record and putting them up 3-0 going into the third.
Jarvis would add his second of the game in the final frame, followed by Mackenzie MacEachern’s first career playoff goal for a 5-2 final.
Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour stuck with his man in the net, Antti Raanta after a tough performance in Game 3 and it paid off. The 33-year-old veteran stopped 27 of 29 shots and collected the first playoff win as the visiting goalie of his career.
Brind’Amour has to be impressed with his special teams’ units but needs more from his squad at five-on-five. The powerplay is clicking at 26.3 percent on a league-leading 19 chances, while they are killing 91.7 percent of the penalties taken.
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