Nashville Predators vs. Carolina Hurricanes Series Prediction, NHL Odds
The last time the Carolina Hurricanes won a division title was in 2006, the same year they won their only Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. It’s not going to be easy for the Hurricanes however, as they’ve drawn the Nashville Predators as their first round opponent. The Predators have now made the playoffs for seven straight years, but they are still looking for their first Stanley Cup championship. Nashville does, however, still have a core group of veterans that took them to the Stanley Cup Final just four years ago. Can Carolina keep their quest for the Cup alive, or do the Preds have what it takes to get one step closer to that elusive championship?
Carolina is getting a lot of love as a -329 favourite to win this series on the NHL Futures Board.
Predators vs. Hurricanes Betting Analysis
The Hurricanes absolutely crushed Nashville for most of the year, winning the first six games between these teams and outscoring the Predators 23-9 in the process. Nashville got their revenge though, winning two late season games against Carolina, including a 5-0 win the last time these teams met, on May 10. Don’t expect a lot of goals in this series, as the total went Under in five of eight regular season games between these teams, including the final four times they met.
The Predators haven’t been a great road team the last couple of years. They’ve lost seven of their last eight games in Carolina and were 13-13-2 on the road this season. They were 29-27 against the spread this year, but they only covered in one of their final four road games. Nashville split the Over/Under on the road this season.
Home ice bodes well for Carolina in this series, as their home record is a big reason why they won the Central. The Hurricanes were 20-3-2 at PNC Arena and they won six of their last seven regular season home games. They were 25-31 ATS overall with 16 of those covers coming at home. The total went Under in five of the Hurricanes last seven games.
Nashville Predators
Nashville is entering this series as a much stronger team than people realize. Since Feb. 26, the Preds went 23-12-2 and beat the Hurricanes twice in May, outscoring them 8-1 in the process. A key piece of the Predators run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, Filip Forsberg is going to be a big factor in this series, but the team will need him healthy. Forsberg missed 17 games with an upper-body injury between late March and late April. He put up 32 points (12G, 20A) in 39 games this year and he’s a dynamic playoff player with 49 points (26G, 23A) in 65 career playoff games. Rookie Eeli Tolvanen could be the X-factor of this series. He earned a spot on the top line after putting up 22 points (11G, 11A) this year, including 12 (6G, 6A) on the power-play.
Juuse Saros is easily the best goalie in this series and will be the starter for Game 1. Since March 18, Saros went 16-6-1 with a 1.90 goals-against average and .941 save percentage. He’ll be backed up by veteran Pekka Rinne, the goalie that backstopped Nashville on their 2017 Cup-run. In what could be his final season, Rinne had a 10-12-1 record this year with a 2.84 GAA and .907 SV. Saros finished the year with three shutouts, while Rinne had two.
Carolina Hurricanes
Special teams could be the difference for Carolina in this series. The Hurricanes power-play was scoring at a 34.6 per cent rate agains Nashville during the regular season, while their penalty kill was successful 88.9 per cent of the time. Sebastian Aho was a big reason for Carolina’s success on the man advantage. Aho had a team-best 18 power-play points (7G, 11A) and led the Hurricanes with seven game-winning goals this year. He was the team’s leading scorer by a wide margin, with 57 points (24G, 33A) in 56 games. Keep an eye on Jesper Fast in this series, too. He’s a pivotal part of this team, playing on both the power-play and penalty kill. Fast had 19 points this year (6G, 13A), including a career-high four power-play goals. He only had one power-play assist through his previous seven seasons.
Carolina doesn’t have a star-level goalie like Nashville, but they do have three very reliable netminders on the roster. Petr Mrazek will get the start in Game 1. Mrazek is healthy now, after missing 31 games with a broken thumb. He went 6-2-3 this year with a 2.06 GAA and .923 SV. He’ll be backed up by Alex Nedeljkovic, who was 15-5-3 with a 1.90 GAA and .932 SV. James Reimer will serve as the third goalie. Reimer was 15-5-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .906 SV.
NHL Series Prediction: Who Will Win Predators vs. Hurricanes?
Nashville made great strides in the second half of the regular season, but they’re just not the same team that made it to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final four years ago. Carolina crushed the Preds in the season series and they should do it again in the playoffs. The Hurricanes take it in five games.