Carolina vs Detroit: The Hurricanes finally defeat division underdog

Carolina hockey players have been unable to beat Detroit in three straight head-to-head meetings. Will Rod Brind’Amour’s team be able to break such a bad streak with a win in the upcoming battle? We predict that this time the Hurricanes will be closer to success.

Carolina are the leader of the Central Division, but right now you can’t say that they are showing an outstanding game. Yes, they have picked up points in eight straight games, but three times during that run they have lost after regular time, and on five occasions they have celebrated victories. That approach might look promising from a tournament standpoint, but there are questions about their Stanley Cup hopes. Rod Brind’Amour’s team has already secured a playoff spot, so now they have an opportunity to slow things down a bit and prepare for their Cup campaign.

Detroit continue to perform quite well, even though we have become accustomed to them being the league’s hopeless underdogs for all of the past few years. In the last nine meetings Jeff Blashill’s team has gone scoreless only twice, they conceded three times in regulation time with one point each and they won four times, which is a very respectable number for a team of such modest size. Yes, the day before, the Red Wings lost to Columbus in a battle of Central Division underdogs in a shootout - 0-1, but this outcome was enough for Detroit to remain in the penultimate place in the standings.

One of the league’s top underdogs, Detroit have won the last three head-to-head meetings against Central Division leader Carolina. Indeed, it looks quite sensational, so Rod Brind’Amour’s team would have to do something about it. In their last game, the Hurricanes defeated Dallas, 5-1, showing that they are slowly returning to the form that allowed them to climb to the top of the standings. So the game against the Red Wings shouldn’t be a problem for them. You can bet on Carolina’s victory with a handicap (-2.5) at odds of about 2.10.

Detroit almost all of the current regular championship showed frantic hockey, a lot of conceding and scoring, but recently they began to act more disciplined, which immediately affected their scores. In their last eight meetings, only 36 goals were scored (4.50 goals per game average), which is very modest by NHL standards. Carolina have also started to play more defensively, so the best option for the prediction seems to be Total Under 5.5 pucks at odds close to 1.90.

The last time Jordan Staal was a prolific scorer was back in 2011/12 when he led Pittsburgh with 50 points (25 goals + 25 assists) in 59 regular-season games. Since then his scoring has been on the decline but this season he is again showing good results with 37 points (16 goals + 21 assists) in 47 games. Were it not for the shortened regular season, the 32-year-old Canadian would be eligible for a new personal best, but now there is every reason to consider betting on Jordan Staal’s Total Over 0.5 points at odds of around 1.85.