In their first head-to-head meeting of the regular season, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Ottawa Senators clash at Canadian Tire Centre. The puck drops at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 6, and you’ll be able to catch this Eastern Conference matchup live on Reseau Des Sports.
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators Odds
Ottawa (+135) is playing the role of underdog to Carolina (-155), and oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 7 goals. The odds for betting the total sit at -105 money on the over and -115 on the under.
Carolina is 18-22 straight up (SU) and has lost 11.9 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 26 of its games have gone under the total, while 13 have gone over and just one has pushed. As an away team in 2018-19, the Canes are 7-11 SU.
Carolina has converted on just 15.2 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s ranked 27th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 13th overall, and the team’s successfully killed off 80.5 percent of all penalties.
For the team as a whole, Carolina has been called for penalties just 3.6 times per game this season, and 5.8 per game over its last five on the road. The team’s had to stave off opponent power plays just 6.4 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
With a .923 save percentage and 26.5 saves per game, Curtis McElhinney (9-6-1) has been the best option in goal for Carolina this year. If Carolina chooses to rest him, however, the team might turn to Petr Mrazek (7-10-2), who has a .902 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average this year.
Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen will both lead the offensive attack for the visiting Hurricanes. Aho has 43 points on 16 goals and 27 assists, and has recorded two or more points in eight different games. Teravainen has 10 goals and 22 assists to his name (and has notched a point in 20 games).
Ottawa is 15-27 straight up (SU) and has lost 3.6 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 27 of its games have gone over the total, while 11 have gone under and just three have pushed. It’s 11-12 SU at home this season.
Ottawa has converted on 21.3 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s right around league average. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 28th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 75.0 percent of all opponent power plays.
Ottawa skaters have been sent to the penalty box 3.8 times per game this season, and 4.5 per game over their last ten contests. The team’s been forced to kill penalties a whopping 15.0 minutes per game over their last five outings.
Craig Anderson has denied 32.0 shots per game as the primary selection in goal for Ottawa. Anderson has 14 wins, 17 losses, and three overtime losses and has maintained a mediocre 3.58 goals against average and a fairly-weak .905 save percentage this year.
Mark Stone (20 goals, 26 assists) will lead the offensive attack for Ottawa.
Carolina Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators Free Picks
Free Prediction: SU Winner – Senators, O/U – Under
Betting Notes
- For both of these clubs, the over has hit in three of their past five matchups.
- Carolina has attempted 36.8 shots per contest overall this season (the second-most in the NHL), and 32.4 in its last five road games.
- The Hurricanes are 7-13 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 12-18 when they serve fewer than 10 total penalty minutes.
- Ottawa has managed 9.0 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 7.4 takeaways per game (ranked 17th overall).
- Carolina has scored 2.6 goals per game overall this year, but has raised that figure up to 4.0 per match up over the team’s three-game winning streak.
- Carolina has forced 8.2 takeaways per game over its last five road games, a drop-off from its season average of 11.6 takeaways per game (ranked second).
