The Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet Friday night in NHL action from the PPG Paints Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction.
Carolina Hurricanes Recap
The Carolina Hurricanes come into this game looking to build on their first win of the season coming in the form of a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils last time out. After this game, the Hurricanes will continue their road trip on the second half of the back-to-back with a date against the St. Louis Blues.
Hurricanes Trying To Get Ball Rolling
Jordan Staal, Shayne Gostisbehere, Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Jackson Blake all have a goal while Dmitry Orlov, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, Will Carrier, Martin Necas, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Andrei Svechnikov each have an assist as no Hurricane skater has more than a single point so far this season. Pyotr Kochetkov has gone 1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .923 save percentage in goal for Carolina so far this year while Frederik Andersen is 0-1 with a 2.06 GAA and a .905 save percentage on the year.
Why the Carolina Hurricanes will win
- The Penguins have lost each of their last 10 games as underdogs following an overtime win.
- The Hurricanes have won each of their last six road openers.
- The Penguins have failed to cover the puck line in eight of their last nine night games at PPG Paints Arena following a win.
- The road team has covered the puck line in five of the Hurricanes’ last six games.
Pittsburgh Penguins Recap
The Pittsburgh Penguins come into this game looking to build on their 6-5 OT win over the Buffalo Sabres in their last matchup for back-to-back wins. After this game, Pittsburgh will head on the road for a matchup with the Winnipeg Jets to start their road trip.
Penguins Looking To Keep Offensive Firepower Clicking
Evgeni Malkin leads the Pens with 11 points including a team-high 9 assists while Sidney Crosby has 6 points with 5 assists of his own. Erik Karlsson has 4 points with 3 assists while Rickard Rakell has 3 goals on the year. Kris Letang, Lars Eller, and Drew O’Connor each have 3 points with 2 goals and an assist while Marcus Pettersson and Jesse Puljujarvi each have a goal and 2 assists for their 3 points. Joel Blomqvist has gone 2-1 with a 2.86 GAA and a .913 save percentage in goal for Pittsburgh while Tristan Jarry is 1-1 with a 5.47 GAA and a .836 save percentage between the pipes for Pittsburgh on the year.
Why the Pittsburgh Penguins will win
- The underdogs have won each of the Hurricanes’ last four games at PPG Paints Arena.
- The Hurricanes have lost six of their last eight games as road favorites against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- The Penguins have covered the puck line in nine of their last 10 games as underdogs against the Hurricanes.
- The Hurricanes have failed to cover the puck line in seven of their last eight road games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction
I’m on the over here. I must say I’ve been impressed with the offense that Pittsburgh’s brought to the table in recent games, scoring six goals in three of their last four outings. On the other side, I don’t trust Pittsburgh’s goaltending still, and the Hurricanes still have a lot of firepower of their own in their lineup. Historically this has been a low-scoring rivalry, but I think this game bucks the trends, and we hit the over here.