The season series between Colorado and Carolina concludes in the NHL on Friday night with the Hurricanes looking for the season sweep, and they need the victory more as they are currently outside of the Eastern Conference playoff field. The game opened as a pick’em on the Mybookie NHL odds. Let’s see how the NHL odds will be for the Avalanche vs Hurricanes.
Avalanche vs Hurricanes 2020 NHL Game Preview & Betting Odds
- When: Friday, 7 PM ET
- Where: PNC Arena
- TV: NHL Center Ice
- Opening NHL Lines: Avalanche -105, Hurricanes -105 (total 6)
Avalanche vs Hurricanes Last Meeting
On Dec. 19, the Hurricanes won in Colorado 3-1. All four goals came in the third period. Denver native Jaccob Slavin scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period for Carolina. Slavin was born in Erie, Colorado, about 39 miles north of Denver. Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho also scored, and James Reimer had 27 saves. Gabriel Landeskog scored and Philipp Grubauer stopped 37 shots for the Avalanche, who lost despite leading with less than three minutes remaining.
Why Bet on Colorado?
This is the front end of a back-to-back for the Colorado Avs, who are on a four-game winning streak following a 3-2 home win over Buffalo on Wednesday. Tyson Jost set up the decisive goal in the third period by winning a tussle for the puck behind the net and dishing it over to Joonas Donskoi, who then fed it to a wide-open J.T. Compher in front. It was Compher’s 10th goal of the season. Compher has two goals and three points in the last three games to give him 28 points over 59 matches this season.
Jost nearly scored his first goal since Nov. 30 with 17:22 remaining when he redirected in a puck that was near his shoulders. But it was waived off by officials due to a high-stick. Martin Kaut and Gabriel Landeskog also had goals.
Working an Avalanche power play, Kaut was perfectly positioned in front of the net to bury the loose puck. It’s his first career NHL goal, giving the 20-year-old forward two points in four games this season. Landeskog opened the scoring at the 14:24 mark of the first period with his 17th goal of the season. He has seven goals and seven assists in the last 18 games.
Pavel Francouz allowed two goals on 33 shots in the win. The 29-year-old goaltender has now won four straight games, improving his record to 17-5-3 with a 2.26 goals-against-average and a .927 save percentage.
Winger Andre Burakovsky will accompany the Avalanche to North Carolina. It was initially reported that Burakovsky was dealing with an illness, but the team has him on the injury report with an upper-body ailment. He has missed the last two games and is questionable for this one.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.47
- Shots: 32.69
- PP/PK Percentage: 19.16
- Goals: 2.71
- Shots: 31.47
- PP/PK Percentage: 20.65
Why Bet on Carolina?
Also the front end of a back-to-back for the Carolina Hurricanes, who lost 4-1 at home to Dallas on Tuesday. Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists and the Stars rode a three-goal first period to the victory. Anton Khudobin stopped 40 shots for Dallas, which won despite being outshot 41-16.
Sebastian Aho had the lone Carolina goal. Aho has 12 goals and 19 points in his 13-game point streak stretching back to Jan. 21. That’s the longest streak in franchise history since the team relocated from Hartford. Andrei Svechnikov recorded an assist on the goal and has a point in 11 games in a row. He has 24 goals and 58 points in 62 contests this season.
Tuesday was the Hurricanes debut of Brady Skjei and Vincent Trocheck, who were added to the team right before Monday’s trade deadline. Skjei was acquired from the New York Rangers and Trocheck from the Florida Panthers. Trocheck went scoreless with no shots on goal. The veteran center was put in Haula’s slot on the third line between wingers Nino Niederreiter and Martin Necas. Skjei also was scoreless and had a bad early turnover. Skjei did tie defensive partner Jaccob Slavin with a team high five shots on goal.
Netminder Alex Nedeljkovic allowed four goals on just 16 shots in the loss. Nedeljkovic was making his regular-season debut with both James Reimer and Petr Mrazek injured. Nedeljkovic allowed a goal in the first minute to Tyler Seguin. It wasn’t necessarily his fault, however, as Skjei turned it over right in front of the goalie for the easy gift.
Team Stats
Offense- Goals: 3.26
- Shots: 33.18
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.69
- Goals: 2.84
- Shots: 29.19
- PP/PK Percentage: 17.27
Avalanche vs Hurricanes Game Trends
- Avalanche are 2-7 in the last 9 meetings in Carolina.
- Underdog is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
- Home team is 13-5 in the last 18 meetings.
- Under is 7-0-1 in the last 8 meetings in Carolina.
- Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings.
Avalanche vs Hurricanes Expert Prediction
Colorado 3, Carolina 2
