Carolina vs Vancouver: The Hurricanes to beat the Canucks at home for the fifth time in a row

Carolina have beaten Vancouver in their last four straight home games. Will Bruce Boudreau's men be able to pick up a win now on such a tough road trip? We predict that the Hurricanes will once again be closer to success!

Carolina have a very good regular season, but they also allow very bad games from time to time. An outstanding example occurred the day before when the Hurricanes were the clear favourites to beat Columbus, but in the end, suffered a crushing defeat - 0:6. In their previous 11 meetings, the Red and Blacks had only been winless once before, falling to Vancouver 1-2 and once before losing to Florida 3-4 in overtime. All this keeps the team from Raleigh in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, leading the team in points lost.

Vancouver continue to try to save the season, which started extremely bad for them. The Canucks were rarely beaten in the opening stages of the regular season, but then there was a change of head coach, which has benefited them. In their last 14 meetings, the Blue and Greens have only allowed four losses and ten wins, which is a respectable record for one of the league's outsiders. It is true that after being cancelled at the beginning of January games, Bruce Boudreau's wards lost first to Florida 2-5 and then to Tampa Bay 2-4, but the opponents' level was too high, and the game rhythm was lost. Vancouver now sits in 13th place in the Western Conference standings.

Carolina and Vancouver are currently at different poles of their conference standings. While the Hurricanes are fourth in the East and even higher in points lost, the Canucks are in fourth place from the bottom in the West. This fact in itself speaks in favour of the hosts in the upcoming confrontation. In addition, the guests gradually begin to slow down after the improved results from the change of the head coach. What's more, Rod Brind'amour's side has won their last four head-to-head encounters in Raleigh. As a result, we'd have to bet on a Carolina win for 1.76.

Carolina and Vancouver are two cautious teams that do not have a habit of crushing their opponents from the first minutes of their games. In this encounter, they can't expect high scoring from the opening minutes either, since the Hurricanes and the Canucks have lost their last two games and therefore don't have much confidence in their abilities. Both teams will try to get off to a slow start and expect mistakes from each other, so a Total Under 0.5 goal by the tenth minute for 2.15 would seem to be a good bet.

Carolina and Vancouver clearly cannot be ranked among the league's brightest and most productive teams. In terms of statistics, the Hurricanes have scored 194 goals (5.71 goals per game average) in 34 games, while the 36 games played by the Canucks have produced only 197 goals (5.47 goals per game average). Both of those numbers are respectable by NHL standards, and the opponents have only managed nine goals (3.00 goals per game average) in their last three head-to-head encounters. A bet on Total Under (6) pucks for 2.05 is worth considering in such a situation.