Senators vs. Hurricanes Prediction: NHL Betting Odds
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Jeremy Perry
The Carolina Hurricanes have been absolutely on fire over the past couple of weeks, winning seven of their last nine. However, they’re fresh off a disappointing 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, who are one of the worst teams in the NHL. They’ve had some time to think about and now they’ll return on Saturday with an excellent opportunity to get back on track when they host the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
Senators vs Hurricanes Betting Analysis
Ottawa is coming off a big win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night, which now makes it three wins in their last four. They were big dogs in each of those games – cashing at +150, +200 and +215 – because they were an absolute mess before that. The Sens had dropped eight in a row before this recent hot spell.
Meanwhile, Carolina has won seven of nine and is 13-7-2 on home ice so far this season. They have played well in this series, winning four straight.
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa has followed up an eight-game slide by winning three of its last four games overall. The Senators followed up wins over the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings on the road with a loss at the San Jose Sharks, but then rebounded with a win over the Avalanche on Wednesday night.
The wins on the road are notable as this team is 12-13 at home but is 6-16 on the road (that includes the two recent wins).
It certainly helps that Anders Nilsson has been a revelation in net since joining the team. Nilsson owns a 2.01 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage while winning two of his last three starts with the Senators. Meanwhile, Ryan Dzingel, Chris Tierney and Zack Smith have each chipped in up front with some offence to help complement what the star scorers like Matt Duchene and Brady Tkachuk have brought to the table. Ottawa has struggled to win on the road for the most part this season and will need its depth scorers to contribute in order to win in Carolina.
Carolina Hurricanes
While the Sens are lacking scoring depth, the Hurricanes have had plenty of late. Sebastian Aho has been an absolute beast for the Hurricanes with nine goals and 17 points over the last month. Justin Williams and Teuvo Teravainen have been excellent as well combining for 10 goals. Carolina has had quality possession numbers all year but the real difference of late has been their ability to actually put the puck in the net. They even added Nino Niederreiter from the Minnesota Wild on Thursday in an attempt to add to their scoring punch up front. It will be interesting to see where he lines up in the Carolina forward group but they’re hoping a change of scenery does him well. He’s struggled this year but he’s normally around a 20-goal scorer.
Meanwhile, Petr Mrazek has struggled with consistency all season between the pipes for the Hurricanes, posting a 2.67 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. He’s actually performed worse at home according to the statistics but has a better record there (5-3-1) as the Hurricanes have scored 3.33 goals per game in his home starts. That’s in stark contrast to the 2.67 they score when they’re on the road.
Senators vs. Hurricanes Prediction
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