Hurricanes vs. Blackhawks Odds
| Hurricanes Odds | -1.5 |
| Blackhawks Odds | +1.5 |
| Over/Under | 5 |
| Time | 7:08 p.m. ET |
| TV | 6 |
| Odds via DraftKings. Get up-to-the-minute NHL Odds here. | |
Carolina moved to 6-0 after another solid showing against Boston last night, emerging with a 3-0 victory behind another excellent outing from Frederik Andersen.
Chicago put together a much better outing in Wednesday's overtime loss to Toronto, but can Chicago manage to put together another livable defensive outing against a lethal Carolina squad?
Chicago Blackhawks
Simply put, it's a pretty treacherous time to be a Blackhawks fan. Outside of the team's ongoing off-ice issues, the on-ice product has been a disaster. With Seth Jones' contract extension not kicking in until next season, it's a scary proposition to look at the early results this year.
The lone good news for the Hawks could be that the team's first round pick traded to Columbus in the Seth Jones deal is lottery protected, something proving more crucial each time the group take the ice.
Claiming a point Wednesday against Toronto, given the situation and playing without Patrick Kane, might have looked like a small victory had it not happened after blowing a 2-0 lead, moving the team to 0-5-2.
Defensively, the Blackhawks have looked quite out of sorts, and Marc-Andre Fleury has simply been very out of form in stopping just .839 % of shots with -9.1 goals saved above expected.
It is unclear whether we see coach Jeremy Colliton go back to Kevin Lankinen or Marc-Andre Fleury here, but whichever starter is given the net will likely be in very tough given the team's poor defensive performance so far. He will also be set to play one of the deepest offensive groups in hockey.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are clicking on all cylinders in the early going, and Rod Brind'Amour's group look again to be a very scary squad going forward.
The team has no clear flaw, and with Frederik Andersen continuing to post spectacular results so far, the perceived offseason concerns with regards to the goaltending situation after losing Petr Mrazek and trading Alek Nedeljkovic seem to be well under control.
There isn't a lot of reason to believe that Carolina should slow down. On paper, the offense appears to be one of the deepest the league has to offer, particularly as Sebastien Aho and Andrei Svechnikov appear to be progressing naturally, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi is starting to look like a useful addition.
It's cup or bust for Carolina this year, but certainly stacking up points while healthy in a very crowded Metropolitan division will be very important. Can they avoid a letdown game against lowly Chicago tomorrow night?
Blackhawks vs Carolina Pick
The Blackhawks have to win sometime right?
In a league this close, and with the Blackhawks once pegged as a team that could possibly return to the postseason this year, you have to feel the results have to trend upwards to an extent at some point.
However, I do not feel that will be tomorrow as the Hurricanes just have so much firepower on all four lines, and I see them controlling a lot of the play and hanging another solid total against a Blackhawks team that has been very bad in the early going and will still be short their best player in Patrick Kane due to COVID-19.
I also like that this will be Antti Raanta's first start for Carolina. For a 6-0 bunch on a back-to-back, it could offer good incentive to avoid a letdown game and put together a strong performance to get their new backup started in the right direction.
The Blackhawks have already posted an impressively dreadful -16 goal differential and own just a 41.16 xGF% in the early going. I think offensively this team has a little more to offer, and I could see them putting in a few here off of backup Antti Raanta. However, I still believe it will be tough for them to keep Carolina's lethal attack at bay.
I see value in backing Carolina to win in regulation, and for the game total to go over six.
Pick: Carolina 3-Way (Regulation win, -110, play to -125) & Over 6 +100 (play to -110)
