The Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet in NHL action from the PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night. Who comes out on top in this Metropolitan division rivalry matchup? Lets dive in and find out with our Hurricanes vs. Penguins Prediction.
Carolina Hurricanes Team Preview
The Carolina Hurricanes come into this one looking to build on a 6-3 win over Vegas last time out. Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes in scoring with 30 points including 12 goals and a team-high 18 assists while Seth Jarvis has 23 points split between 11 goals and 12 assists. Teuvo Teravainen has 19 points with a team-high 11 goals and Martin Necas has 23 points with 9 goals and 14 assists. Michael Bunting has 22 points with 15 assists and Brady Skjei has 20 points with 14 assists. In goal, Frederik Andersen has gone 4-1 with a 2.87 GAA and an .894 save percentage while Antti Raanta is 6-5-1 with a 3.61 GAA and an .854 save percentage and Pyotr Kochetkov is 7-6-2 with a 2.65 GAA and an .895 save percentage.
Carolina Hurricanes Team Facts
- The underdogs have won four of the Hurricanes’ last five games at PPG Paints Arena.
- The Hurricanes have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last 12 Thursday games as favorites.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2′ market has hit in each of the Hurricanes’ last nine games following a win.
- The Hurricanes have won the third period in four of their last five games against Metropolitan Division opponents.
Pittsburgh Penguins Team Preview
The Pittsburgh Penguins come into this one looking to build on a 4-3 win over Minnesota last time out. Jake Guentzel leads the Penguins in scoring with 34 points including 14 goals and a team-high 20 assists while Sidney Crosby has 33 points with a team-high 18 goals. Evgeni Malkin has 26 points with 11 goals and 15 assists while Erik Karlsson’s added 22 points with 16 assists and Bryan Rust has 20 points with 10 goals this season. Tristan Jarry has gone 9-11-2 with a 2.61 GAA and a .913 save percentage while Alex Nedeljkovic has a 4-2-1 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .929 save percentage this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Team Facts
- The Penguins have lost each of their last 14 games as underdogs against Metropolitan Division opponents.
- The Penguins have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last seven night games at PPG Paints Arena following a home win.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 3′ market has hit in each of the Penguins’ last 13 home games against opponents on a losing streak.
- The Penguins have lost the first period in eight of their last nine night games following a home win.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Pittsburgh Penguins rank 26th in the league in power play percentage this season (14.44%).
- The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of only three teams to lose 5+ games when leading after Period 1 this season.
- The Carolina Hurricanes rank 1st in the league for shots against per game this season (25.6).
- The Carolina Hurricanes rank 32nd in the league in save percentage this season (.875).
Hurricanes vs. Penguins Prediction
I’m sticking with Carolina here. I just keep flip-flopping back and forth, but then I realized that Carolina’s won 5 straight and 8 of the last 9 meetings between these two teams and I feel their goaltending’s been more trustworthy as of late. Give me the Hurricanes at home here.
