The Carolina Hurricanes and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet in NHL action from the PPG Paints Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Carolina Hurricanes will try to build on a 4th straight win after a 3-1 win over the Flyers last time out. Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes in scoring with 60 points including a team-high 26 goals with 34 assists while Andrei Svechnikov has 52 points with 23 goals and 29 assists. Tony DeAngelo has 40 points with 31 assists while Teuvo Teravainen has 46 points with 16 goals, 30 assists and Nino Niederreiter has a team-best +19 plus/minus rating this season. Frederik Andersen’s started the bulk of Carolina’s action in goal, going 30-8-2 with a 2.08 GAA and a .929 save percentage this season.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to build on their 5-2 win over Vegas in their last game. Jake Guentzel leads the Penguins in scoring with 59 points including a team-high 28 goals. Evan Rodrigues has 36 points with 17 goals and 19 assists while Kris Letang has 50 points with a team-high 44 assists. Sidney Crosby’s also added 57 points with 19 goals and 38 assists of his own this season. Tristan Jarry’s seen the majority of Pittsburgh’s action between the pipes, going 28-12-6 with a 2.33 GAA and a .921 save percentage this season,
Carolina is 5-1 in their last 6 division games and 4-0 in their last 4 Sunday games while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Pittsburgh is 3-7 in their last 10 home games and 2-5 in their last 7 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 home games.
I get the case to be made for the Penguins laying the juice at home, but the reality here for me is that the Hurricanes are playing really well right now and are a live underdog at this price. They’ve beaten the Penguins twice already this season and have fared well defensively in their last few games. It’s going to be a battle, but I look for Carolina to come out on top here.