NHL Hockey Betting: Carolina Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators
Two teams heading in opposite directions of late will go at it tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre as the Ottawa Senators host the surprising Carolina Hurricanes. The Senators enter tonight’s game off a 2-1 win against Buffalo but are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games. They’re at the very end of the ‘lead pack’ in the Atlantic Division tied with imploding Montreal with 58 points. This also leaves the Senators six points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Carolina Hurricanes are just two points out of that same wild card spot and have gone 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. They’re in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division but only 8 points back of the second place New York Rangers (no one is catching the first place Capitals). The Hurricanes have become a team that ‘finds ways to win’ and have been improving on the defensive end moving up to #14 in goals against and #12 on the penalty kill. Since that includes a substandard start to the season that’s impressive progress. They did take a hit with the injury to goaltender Cam Ward but they caught a break there as his ‘lower body injury’ turned out to be minor. He’s with the team on this road trip and will serve as Eddie Lack’s backup here.
Ottawa does one thing well and that’s score goals. They’re the #8 scoring offense in the NHL but that’s negated and then some by the fact they’ve got the #30 scoring defense allowing 3.1 goals per game. They’re #20 on the power play and #29 on the penalty kill. To further compound things the Hurricanes have always ‘had the Senators’ number’. Carolina has won 5 of the last 7 head to head meetings including 2 of the last 3 in Ottawa. They won the only meeting so far this season, 3-2 at home.
Great value on this game as every analytical model we’ve used suggests that Carolina should be favored. This is a clear case of a matchup that is priced more due to the names on the team’s sweaters and not their statistical profile or recent form. Carolina is the better team in better form and plays substantially better on the defensive end.
BET CAROLINA HURRICANES -105 OVER OTTAWA SENATORS
