PNC Arena will be the site for an East-West showdown as the Vancouver Canucks face off against the Carolina Hurricanes. Sportsnet Vancouver will broadcast the game, and the action gets underway at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 9.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Carolina Hurricanes Odds
Carolina (-180) is currently the favorite over Vancouver (+160), and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals (-120 for the under, +100 for the over).
Netting 0.7 units for moneyline bettors, the Hurricanes are 2-1 straight up (SU) overall in the 2018-19 season. That winning percentage, the second-best in the Metropolitan Division in this young season, is a welcome improvement over the 36-46 record from last year’s regular season campaign. The team is 1-1 SU at home this season.
Carolina’s successfully converted on 12.5 percent of its power play opportunities so far. That’s a big drop-off from last season, when the team was ranked 22nd in the league by scoring on 18.3 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has improved nicely year-over-year as the team’s gone from successfully defending 77.5 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 24th overall last season) to 80.0 percent this year.
Carolina, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.7 times per game this season. Last year, the club posted the lowest figure in the league with 2.7 penalties per game. After serving an average of 6.2 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 7.3 minutes per matchup this year.
Sporting a .841 save percentage and 18.5 saves per game, Petr Mrazek (1-1-1) has been the best goalkeeper for the Hurricanes this year. If they choose to give him the night off, however, the team may go with Curtis McElhinney (1-0 record, .969 save percentage, 1.00 goals against average).
Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho will each spearhead the attack for the Hurricanes. Staal (four points) has tallied two goals and two assists while Aho has one goal and three assists to his name so far in the season’s early going.
On the visiting bench, Vancouver is 1-1 straight up (SU) and has earned moneyline bettors 0.2 units this year. Both of the team’s games this season have gone over.
Vancouver’s recorded a goal on 28.6 percent of its power play chances this year after converting on 21.5 percent of its extra-man opportunities last season (when the team ranked eighth league-wide in that category). The team has gone from successfully defending 78.6 percent of opponent power plays (ranked 21st overall last season) to 76.9 percent in 2018-19.
Vancouver’s players have been whistled for penalties 7.0 times per game this season, a number that’s climbed noticeably from the 3.7 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.7 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has been forced to kill penalties for a taxing 15.5 minutes per matchup this year.
Jacob Markstrom (31.5 saves per game) has been the primary choice in goal for Vancouver. Markstrom has one win and one to his credit, while registering a .900 save percentage and 3.52 goals against average this year.
Vancouver Canucks vs. Carolina Hurricanes Free Picks
Free Pick: SU Winner – Hurricanes, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Notes
Vancouver has managed 20.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Carolina is averaging 43.0 shots per game over its last five at home.
Carolina’s skaters recorded 10.8 takeaways per game and allowed 9.8 giveaways per contest.
Vancouver skaters converted 6.1 takeaways per game while allowing 8.1 giveaways per game in 2017-18
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