The NHL playoffs edge closer to a Conference final as the closest second-round clash so far heads to a vital game 5 between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers.
The best-of-seven series currently sits at 2-2 with four games played, with the Rangers coming from 2-0 down to tie it all up heading into this game. The winners of the series will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals.
We’ll look ahead to Game 5 and break down the match-up before giving you our best free betting picks top see if we can earn you some extra cash for the weekend.
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It was a brilliant start to the series for the Hurricanes, who entered the game as the number one seed from their division.
The Rangers picked up an early goal in the first period thanks to Filip Chytil, only for a late equalizer and then an overtime-winning goal from Sebastian Aho and Ian Cole to flip the game completely on its head and hand the home side the victory.
Game 2 was even better for them as goalie Antti Raanta was able to keep a clean sheet, which was even better when Ato and Brendan Smith were able to get on the scoresheet in the second and third periods respectively, to earn a 2-0 win in regulation time.
It looked like it could be a rough season for the Rangers, but Game 3 saw a big switch in momentum. With the series heading to Madison Square Garden, New York were finally able to get on the board for the series.
Goals from Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Tyler Motte were enough to cancel out Nino Niederreiter‘s excellent goal and keep them alive in the series.
Then Game 4 saw a big result for the Rangers as they put the Hurricanes to the sword in a massive 4-1 win. Andrew Copp, Adam Fox, Frank Vatrano, and Zibanejad were on the scoresheet for the home side, while Teuvo Teravalinen hit a consolation goal in the third period for Carolina.
If you’re looking for a solid favorite to back, then Carolina are your team. They have registered a record of 55-22 for the season when coming into the game as the moneyline favorite, and when the odds were -147 or shorter they are 37-15.
The Hurricanes have scored the ninth-most goals in the NHL this season with 277 total, at an average of 3.4 per game, while they have the best defense having only allowed 200 goals in total for just 2.4 per game.
Carolina have gone over the 5.5 goals mark in a game on 51 different occasions so far this season, despite zero times in this series, but they are among the best all-around teams in the entire league.
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The Rangers have been solid underdogs in the NHL season, recording 18 wins from 38 games where they have been the betting underdog going into the game.
So far this season, the overs market has been a solid one to back in games, including New York. There have been 6 or more goals in 46 of 95 games so far, including every single game in the series against the Penguins, but none in the current series against Carolina.
Over the last ten games, they have accumulated a 6-4 run, scoring 32 goals for an average of 3.2 goals per game and conceding 31 goals for an average of 3.1 conceded per game.
Over the course of the season, though, they’ve been the opposite of that, proving to be the second-best side in the entire NHL defensively. They allowed just 2.49 goals per game across the season, ranking them second in the league while scoring an average of 3.06, ranking them 16th.
They took just 29 shots per game on average, a total that ranked them in 28th across the league for that stat but they only allowed 30.8 shots per game themselves, a number that ranked them in 11th.
Home advantage has been crucial in this series so far, with both teams winning each of their home games and losing away.
No game has hit the Over 5.5 goals mark so far in the series, and according to the stats this game’s over/under is 0.6 more than the 4.9 goals these two teams concede per game combined on average.
If you want a moneyline winner, then it’s probably safest to go with Carolina, but backing the unders is probably the safest bet of the night and is an even better price, so hit that and watch the cash roll in afterward.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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