Carolina Hurricanes (-115) vs Boston Bruins (-105)
PICK: Unders for the series. Car ML for Games 1 and 2. Boston ML for Game 3.
Another interesting match up. Oh Carolina what do you have for us? They feel so similar to Tampa Bay. Sebastian Aho leading the team but then the players fall off so quickly. Sechnikov, Teravainen, Trocheck, Niederreiter, Jarvis, Fast, Staal and Kotkaniemi…..uh can I buy a vowel? All those guys were pretty inconsistent. Carolina’s game plan isn’t about scoring goals anyway because this team plays defense. Only 200 goals against to lead the league with a goalie who happened to be on Toronto’s roster only a couple of years ago, whoops! Wouldn’t they like to have that decision back right now. Andersen is as solid as it gets. Carolina is just built to win because defense wins games.
Boston is intriguing. They’re the team that Washington wishes they could be. Boston will be tough at home but their play on the road is what will be the test. A solid two-way team in Boston is on par with Carolina in the goals against category with only 218. They too didn’t have any standouts offensively but as a team they had balanced scoring from all three lines so that may be the thing that gets them into the second round. They are one of a handful of teams that have the luxury of two goalies that can start, if they need to change things up they can go to the backup. Boston will try to play physical but Carolina’s backline will be able to take anything that the Bruins throw at them.
Regular Season Series: Carolina 3-0
Oct 28th: BOS 0 (Swayman) @ CAR 3 (Andersen)
Jan 18th: CAR 7 (Andersen) @ BOS 1 (Rask(5)/Ullmark(2))
Feb 10th: CAR 6 (Andersen) @ BOS 0 (Ullmark)
Carolina Numbers
Home Wins 71% (29-12); Away Wins 61% (25-16)
Home Favorite 72% (28-11); Away Favorite 62% (18-11)
Home 62% Under (25U/15O); Away 56% Over (22O/17U)
Home v Atlantic 67% (8-4); Away v Atlantic 42% (5-7)
Home Favorite +$357; Away Favorite +$27
Home PL 51% (21-20); Away PL 49% (20-21)
Boston Numbers
Home Wins 63% (26-15); Away Wins 61% (25-16)
Home Dog 50% (3-3); Away Dog 38% (6-10)
Home 53% Under (20U/18O); Away 51% Under (19U/18O)
Home v Metro 67% (8-4); Away v Metro 42% (5-7)
Home Dog +$34; Away Dog -$280
Home PL 34% (14-27); Away PL 49% (20-21)
