Tampa Bay Lightning (37-20-5) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (40-12-8)
March 5, 2023 3:00 pm EDT
The Line: Carolina Hurricanes -165 / Tampa Bay Lightning +145; Over/Under: +5.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes meet in NHL action from the PNC Arena on Sunday. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.
Odds
Carolina is a -165 home favorite while the Lightning are +145 road underdogs. The total for this game is set at 5.5 goals.
Injuries
For Tampa Bay, Erik cernak is questionable for this game with an undisclosed injury while Carolina has Ondrej Kase and Jesse Puljujarvi both listed as out until later this month.
Matchup History
Carolina’s 4-3 shootout win over the Lightning last time out made it three wins in the last four head-to-head matchups for the Hurricanes.
Trends
Tampa Bay is 1-5 in their last 6 games against the Eastern Conference and 1-4 in their last 5 games overall while the over is 7-3-1 in their last 11 road games. Carolina is 6-0 in their last 6 games against the Atlantic division and 46-17 in their last 63 home games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games following a win.
Pick
I’m backing Carolina here. The Lightning are just struggling right now, which still feels odd to say, but it is what it is and the Carolina Hurricanes will likely be out to kick a rival when they’re down, especially with Carolina being at home. It’s hard to pass up this kind of plus money with the Lightning, but the Hurricanes are the play here.
