Montreal Canadiens vs. Carolina Hurricanes - 12/31/19 NHL Picks, Odds, and Prediction

Game: Montreal Canadiens vs Carolina Hurricanes

Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Location: PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC

TV: TSN2/RDS

Odds/Point Spread: Canadiens (+153) Hurricanes (-170)

Total/Over-Under: 6

Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens (18-15-6, 5th in the Atlantic Division) are headed to PNC Arena on Tuesday where they'll meet the Carolina Hurricanes (23-14-2, 5th in the Metropolitan Division). The odds on this contest have the Canadiens priced at +153 and the Hurricanes are at -170. The O/U opens at 6. The Canadiens are covering 43.2% of the time, having gone 16-21 SU. The Hurricanes are covering 56.8% of the time, going 21-16 straight up.

The Montreal Canadiens head into this game holding a record of 18 wins and 15 defeats, which is good for 5th in the Atlantic Division. So far this year, they have converted a total of 128 goals which has them sitting at 8th in the East and 11th in the league. Their goal differential is +1, which is good for 17th in the league. The Canadiens have earned a total of 42 points, which has them sitting at 20th in the league and 10th in the East. In discussing shots toward the net, they have earned a total of 1,388 which has them sitting at 1st in the Eastern Conference and 3rd in the league. As a group, Montreal has earned a total of 999 hits which means they have an average of 25.6 per game. They have earned a total of 476 blocks for the season. The man in net for Montreal is Carey Price from Farmingville, New York. He is 32 years old and has racked up 1,879 minutes in net for the season. Price is surrendering 3.03 GAA which has him ranked 21st among East goaltenders and 43rd in the NHL among goalies. For the year, he has given up 95 goals. He's earned a save % of .901 which has him ranked 23rd among East goaltenders.

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The Montreal Canadiens will look to clean up some issues after taking a 6 - 5 loss to the Florida Panthers in their last contest. The Canadiens had a impressive offensive performance in the loss. For this matchup, they earned a goal on 5 out of the 43 shots they put on goal. Furthermore, they had 4 power play opportunities and were able to net 2 goals out of those attempts. Montreal had 10 penalty mins for this outing. The Corsi for the Canadiens sat at 66 and the Corsi against at even strength was 48 meaning they had a Corsi percentage of 57.9%. Their Fenwick sat at 50 and the Fenwick against sat at 34, which means they earned a rate of 59.5%. They earned 28 face-off wins at even strength and lost 26 tries to control the puck. The offensive zone starts for them came in at 65.7% and they had a PDO of 87.4 for this matchup. Concerning opponent stats, the Florida Panthers racked up a total of 34 shots. They ended the game with 8 penalty minutes and they notched 5 power play opportunities.

The Hurricanes will be the team on the other side of the ice and for the season they have 23 victories and 14 defeats. When talking about goal differential, they rank 4th in the East and 6th in the NHL with +20. They have compiled a total of 131 goals for this year which puts them at 5th in the East. Carolina has a save % as a team of .902 which currently has them ranked 21st in the NHL, which means there should be some opportunities to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 9.8% ranking them 9th in the conference. In goal for Carolina is Petr Mrazek who is having a marginal year by giving up 2.74 goals per game and that has him ranked 12th in the East and 22nd in the NHL among goaltenders. In the 1,468 mins he's played this year, he has given up 67 goals. His save percentage is .900, which ranks him 25th in the East and 48th in the NHL among goaltenders.

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The Carolina Hurricanes went up against the Washington Capitals in a matchup where the Hurricanes took home the victory by a mark of 6 - 4. In this game, Carolina earned a 54.2% Corsi rating. That percentage was had by having a Corsi of 45 and the team opposite of them having a Corsi of 38. Their Fenwick rate was 57.4% by notching a Fenwick of 35 and the Capitals having a 26 Fenwick at even strength. These Corsi stats speak to the kind of game that Carolina had and they put on a good performance in this one. They had a PDO of 104.3 and they finished this one with an oZS percentage of 44.3%. The Hurricanes converted 6 goals of the 29 shots on goal they were seeking. They had 3 power play chances in this outing and were able to net 1 out of those chances. Regarding the opposition, the Capitals had 5 power play opportunities and went on to score 2 goals. Carolina gave up 29 shots on goal and the Capitals had a total of 6 penalty mins.

Who will win tonight's hockey game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take Montreal (+153)

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