Tuesday's Best NHL Bet
By Covers.com
Pittsburgh Penguins at Carolina Hurricanes (+110, 5.5) odds provided by betED
The Hurricanes find themselves trailing the Penguins 3-0 in the Eastern Conference finals after suffering a 6-2 loss in Game 3 Saturday night. Although only two teams in Stanley Cup history have managed to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, the Penguins aren’t discounting Carolina.
“The task at hand is clear,” Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma told reporters on Sunday. “We know the series is 3-0. We know this team is not going to quit. We know that’s their trademark. We know they’re going to keep coming at us. They’ve proven that in the games that ended up with lots of goals on the board. They’ve been fighting right to the end.”
The Hurricanes were basically their own worst enemy Saturday committing a costly turnover at the end of the first period which led to a Sidney Crosby goal and then allowing Evgeni Malkin to score 30 seconds later. The game went from being tied 1-1 to a 3-1 Pittsburgh lead and took the wind out of Carolina’s sail.
“We’re seeing a little different offensive machine here,” Carolina head coach Paul Maurice said. “I’m sure you go back to all those games and you think of the overtime game against New Jersey where they came out and had three or four great chances, and down we went and scored to win the game.
“With the shooters [the Penguins] have, that game may be over [before Carolina scores].”
Carolina has been outscored 16-8 in the first three games. Malkin and Crosby have combined for eight of Pittsburgh’s goals whereas Eric Staal and Ray Whitney have yet to put the puck in the net so far in this series. It feels like the Canes exhausted all their energy in their previous two series and are now running on empty.
“We’ve never been in this spot before, but if I was to pick a team to be in this spot to try and come back, this would be the one,” Staal said. “We’ve done it all year. We’ve done it in the playoffs. We’re going to take it one game at a time. We’re going to work our tails off, because that’s what we do, and we’re going to go from there.”
Expect the Canes to give a strong performance in what might be their last game in front of a home crowd this season.
Pick: Hurricanes
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Evgeni Malkin scored twice as the Penguins cruised past the Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
The Penguins won that game as +110 underdogs at RBC Center, while the combined eight goals sailed OVER the posted over/under (5.5).
Sidney Crosby, Ruslan Fedotenko, Craig Adams, and Bill Guerin added singles for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves in the win.
Matt Cullen and Sergei Samsonov scored for the Hurricanes, who were favored at -130. Cam Ward stopped 34 shots in a losing effort.
Team records:
Pittsburgh: 45-28-9
Carolina: 45-30-7
Pittsburgh most recently:
When playing on Tuesday are 4-5-1
Before playing Ottawa are 6-4
After playing Carolina are 6-4
After a win are 6-4
Carolina most recently:
When playing on Tuesday are 6-4
Before playing Boston are 6-4
After playing Pittsburgh are 3-7
After a loss are 5-5
A few trends to consider:
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Pittsburgh's last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games on the road
Pittsburgh is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Carolina
Carolina is 16-4 SU in its last 20 games at home
Carolina is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
Carolina is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Pittsburgh
Carolina is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
PITTSBURGH (56-32-0-10, 122 pts.) at CAROLINA (53-38-0-8, 114 pts.)
Top Trends for this game.
CAROLINA is 53-46 ATS (-1.1 Units) in all games this season.
CAROLINA is 35-26 ATS (-2.3 Units) second half of the season this season.
CAROLINA is 11-6 ATS (+17.7 Units) revenging a home loss versus opponent this season.
CAROLINA is 48-35 ATS (+83.8 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
CAROLINA is 26-24 ATS (-1.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
CAROLINA is 19-14 ATS (+35.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
PITTSBURGH is 117-83 ATS (+14.1 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 78-47 ATS (+17.7 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 20-9 ATS (+9.0 Units) on Tuesday nights over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 29-11 ATS (+15.4 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 64-50 ATS (+12.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 26-13 ATS (+10.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 8-7 (+0.3 Units) against the spread versus CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 8-7-0 straight up against CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
9 of 14 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+3.7 Units)
PITTSBURGH vs. CAROLINA
Pittsburgh is 4-9-2 SU in its last 15 games when playing on the road against Carolina
Pittsburgh is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Carolina
Carolina is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
Carolina is 16-4 SU in its last 20 games at home
NHL Playoffs
Penguins scored 2-2-3 goals in first period in this series, which they can end with road win here; Pittsburgh scored 13 goals on 82 shots last two games, scored two power play goals in 4:51 with man edge in Game 3. Carolina needs win here to avoid sweep and send series back to Igloo in western PA. Hurricanes are 0-6 on power play last two games. Six of the last seven Pittsburgh games went over the total- they scored 22 goals in last four games. Penguin win here nets them rest before Finals.