Each team’s third game of the season, the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes meet at PNC Arena in a divisional showdown. MSG Network will air the game, and the opening face-off is at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 7.
New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes Odds
Carolina enters the game as the heavy favorite with a -215 moneyline. The line for New York sits at +180 and the oddsmakers have put the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals. The odds for betting that total stand at -110 for the over and -110 on the under.
Carolina is 1-1 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.3 units for moneyline bettors this year. That win percentage, the second-best in the Metropolitan Division so far in the early season, is a welcome improvement compared to how the team performed during the 2017-18 season (36-46). .
The Canes have successfully connected on 0.0 percent of their power play opportunities so far. That’s a big drop-off from last year, when they were ranked 22nd in the league by scoring on 18.3 percent of their extra-man chances. Their penalty kill has improved nicely year-over-year as they’ve gone from successfully defending 77.5 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 24th overall last season) to 83.3 percent this year.
As a collective unit, the Hurricanes have been penalized 3.0 times per game this season. Last year, they posted the lowest mark in the league with 2.7 penalties per game. After serving an average of 6.2 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 6.0 minutes per matchup this season.
Sporting a .969 save percentage and 31.0 saves per game, Curtis McElhinney (1-0) has been the primary goalkeeper for Carolina this season. If Carolina chooses to give him the night off, however, head coach Rod Brind Amour could go with Petr Mrazek (0-1-1 record, .900 save percentage, 2.02 goals against average).
Over on the other bench, New York is 0-2 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.0 unit for bettors taking the moneyline this year. Through two regular season matches, one of its games has gone under the total, while zero have gone over and none have pushed.
The Broadway Blueshirts have scored on 0.0 percent of their power play chances this year after converting on 21.2 percent of their extra-man opportunities last season (a figure that was just better than the league average). The team has gone from killing off 81.4 percent of opponent power plays (ranked eighth overall last season) to 60.0 percent this year.
New York’s skaters have been penalized 5.0 times per game this season, a number that has risen noticeably from the 3.5 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.0 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s had to stave off opponent power plays for a taxing 11.5 minutes per outing this season.
The winless Henrik Lundqvist (28.0 saves per game) has been the primary choice in goal for New York. Lundqvist has zero wins and two losses to his credit, while registering a .933 save percentage and 2.06 goals against average this year.
New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes Betting Predictions
Free NHL Tip: SU Winner – Hurricanes, O/U – Over
Click Here to Start Betting Today!
Notes
Betting Trends
Carolina was 3-3 in in shootouts last season. New York was 3-5 in games that went to a shootout.
After averaging the third-most shots in the league last season (33.9 per game), Carolina’s attempted 40.5 shots per contest overall this season, and 40.5 across their last 10 games.
New York skaters registered 20.9 hits per game last season, while the Hurricanes logged 19.5 hits per contest.
*****
