Hurricanes vs. Blues Pick
Are the Carolina Hurricanes going to pull off the upset today when they battle the host St. Louis Blues at 8PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Blues are listed as a -135 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Hurricanes are a +115 underdog, while the over-under sits at 5.5 goals.
Carolina enters with an 18-12-4-3 record after a 2-1 home win over the Penguins Friday night. St. Louis is 23-15-2-0 following a 4-2 loss Friday night at the Stars. The Blues won the season’s first meeting by a 2-1 score in Carolina on Oct. 27. St. Louis is 2-1 in the last three meetings. The over is also 2-1.
The Hurricanes were paced by Sebastian Aho and Derek Ryan as each scored a goal in the victory against Pittsburgh. Cam Ward notched 27 saves on 28 shots. The Penguins led 1-0 through one period, but Ryan tied it at 1-1 at the 13:35 mark of the second period before Aho added the go-ahead goal late in the second.
In the defeat at Dallas, Vladimir Tarasenko and Tage Thompson scored a goal apiece. Jake Allen recorded 25 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort. The Blues took a 2-1 lead early in the second period as Tarasenko and Thompson scored within a 1:05 span of each other, but Dallas tied it up with 4:50 remaining in the second and added two more insurance goals before the period was over.
The road team is 6-0 in the last six meetings. The over is 3-0-1 in the last four meetings in St. Louis.
For whatever reason, the road team has dominated the series the last few seasons. While the Hurricanes are not great in the back end, they should be able to score a few goals here and keep St. Louis frustrated. Carolina is coming off a big win over the Penguins and will look to ride that wave tonight. Expect backup goaltenders for both teams and while Scott Darling has not had a great season, he does have a good track record and is fully capable of being on top of his game any given night. I like the Hurricanes’ chances in this spot.
NHL DAILY PREDICTION: CAROLINA HURRICANES +115