While basketball action is dominating the menu at sportsbooks there’s still plenty of NHL betting action out there.  We’ll take a look at an Eastern Conference game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Penguins have the 2nd best record in the East, three points ahead of New Jersey and Buffalo.  The Hurricanes are still mired in 13th place but have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL of late winning 8 of their L10 games with only one loss in regulation.  They dug a huge hole for themselves earlier in the campaign and are still 8 points behind Boston for the final playoff spot in the conference.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS VS. CAROLINA HURRICANES:

The Penguins are a good road team with a 19-12-1 record on enemy ice, but we can’t dismiss how hot Carolina has been lately.  The two teams have played twice this year with each winning once.  Long story short, we like the value price on the home team in this matchup.  We also have interest in the total.  Both of the earlier meetings this season played Under, with 5 goals being scored in each contest.  Despite that, its important to keep in mind that both Carolina and Pittburgh’s strong suit is offense.  Both rank in the top 10 in scoring offense with the Penguins at #5 and Carolina at #10.  The Penguins are one of six NHL teams averaging more than 3 goals per game (3.09) while Carolina averages 2.75 goals a game.  Both teams are also in the bottom ten defensively.  Carolina is #22 in scoring defense and one of only eight teams allowing more than 3 goals per game (3.02).  Pittsburgh is 20th giving up an average of 2.85 goals per game.

Despite the results of the previous meetings this season–both occurring well before Carolina’s recent upturn–we sure don’t see a defensive battle here.  The Hurricanes have gone Over in 15 of 22 games against teams with winning records, while Pittsburgh is pretty much an even proposition in most O/U situations.  We look for Carolina to win, and we don’t think they’ve got the personnel to win a low scoring game.  This one should go Over the posted total of 5′.

PLAY CAROLINA +120 OVER PITTSBURGH
PLAY CAROLINA/PITTSBURGH OVER 5′ -130