The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers meet Thursday in NHL action at the FLA Live Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Carolina Hurricanes are averaging 3.1 goals per game and are scoring on 20.2 percent of their power play opportunities. Sebastian Aho leads Carolina with 35 goals, Brent Burns has 43 assists and Martin Necas has 238 shots on goal. Defensively, the Carolina Hurricanes are allowing 2.6 goals per game and are killing 84.1 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Frederik Andersen has allowed 78 goal on 815 shots faced, and Antti Raanta has allowed 58 goals on 644 shots.

The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.5 goals per game and are scoring on 23 percent of their power play opportunities. Carter Verhaeghe leads Florida with 41 goals, Matthew Tkachuk has 68 assists and Brandon Montour has 236 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 3.3 goals per game and are killing 75.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Sergei Bobrovsky has given up 145 goals on 1,466 shots faced, and Spencer Knight has allowed 62 goals on 627 shots.

The Hurricanes are 1-4 in their last 5 road games and 41-19 in their last 60 overall. The Panthers are 6-2 in their last 8 Thursday games and 6-1 in their last 7 overall. The under is 8-1 in Hurricanes last 9 overall. The under is 4-1-4 in Panthers last 9 overall. The Hurricanes are 1-5 in the last 6 meetings. The favorite is 53-24 in the last 77 meetings. The home team is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

The Carolina Hurricanes in the underdog role is always appealing, but they have had some recent hiccups on the road and the Panthers are a tough out at home. The Panthers are also playing their best hockey of the season and need a win to give themselves a shot at better seeding. The price is cheap. Give me the Panthers at home.