The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes meet Sunday in NHL action at the PNC Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.
The New York Islanders are averaging 3 goals per game and are scoring on 16.5 percent of their power play opportunities. Brock Nelson leads New York with 32 goals, Mathew Barzal has 37 assists and Anders Lee has 198 shots on goal. Defensively, the New York Islanders are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 82 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Ilya Sorokin has given up 128 goals on 1,682 shots faced, and Semyon Varlamov has allowed 59 goals on 678 shots.
The Carolina Hurricanes are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are scoring on 20.7 percent of their power play opportunities. Sebastian Aho leads Carolina with 33 goals, Brent Burns has 41 assists and Andrei Svechnikov has 205 shots on goal. Defensively, the Carolina Hurricanes are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 83.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Frederik Andersen has allowed 72 goal on 739 shots faced, and Antti Raanta has allowed 51 goals on 551 shots.
The Islanders are 5-12 in their last 17 Sunday games and 5-2 in their last 7 overall. The Hurricanes are 55-23 in their last 78 home games and 37-16 in their last 53 overall. The under is 5-2-1 in Islanders last 8 games playing on 0 days rest. The under is 8-3-1 in Hurricanes last 12 home games. The Islanders are 2-5 in the last 7 meetings in Carolina and 2-12 in the last 14 meetings. The road team is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings. The favorite is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings.
The New York Islanders are having a nice week and still need another win or two to clinch a playoff spot. Still, the Carolina Hurricanes are one of the more consistent teams in the league, and they’ve been a buzz saw at home dating back to last season. I’m not eager to step in front of the Canes. I’ll lay the juice.