The Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins meet Sunday in NHL action at the PPG Paints Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes look for a win after splitting their last eight games. The Pittsburgh Penguins look for a win after splitting their last 10 games.
The Carolina Hurricanes are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 24.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Andrei Svechnikov leads Carolina with 22 goals, Tony DeAngelo has 30 assists and Sebastian Aho has 131 shots on goal. Defensively, the Carolina Hurricanes are allowing 2.4 goals per game and are killing 89.8 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Frederick Anderson has allowed 69 goals on 958 shots faced, and Antti Raanta has allowed 25 goals on 274 goals.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are averaging 3.3 goals per game and are scoring on 22.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Jake Guentzel leads Pittsburgh with 25 goals, Kris Letang has 39 assists and Evan Rodriguez has 151 shots on goal. Defensively, the Pittsburgh Penguins are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 87.7 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Tristan Jarry has allowed 89 goals on 1,162 shots faced, and Casey DeSmith has allowed 34 goals on 330 shots.
The Hurricanes are 42-19 in their last 61 games following a win and 18-8 in their last 26 overall. The Penguins are 7-0 in their last 7 games playing on 2 days rest and 21-7 in their last 28 overall. The over is 6-2 in Hurricanes last 8 road games. The over is 7-3 in Penguins last 10 home games. The Hurricanes are 6-13 in the last 19 meetings in Pittsburgh and 5-11 in the last 16 meetings.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be favored at home more times than not, where they’ve beaten teams into the ground over the years, and they’ve had great success against the Canes in past meetings. However, we’re getting the Carolina Hurricanes in a rare underdog spot and there’s great value at this price because of how consistent they’ve been this season. The Hurricanes are one of the best teams in the league and anytime they’re an underdog you have to consider it. Give me the road dog.