Two of the best teams in the NHL meet up for the second night in a row as the Carolina Hurricanes face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts edged the Canes 3-2 in overtime last night thanks to a goal from Yanni Gourde three minutes into the extra period.
Oddsmakers are expecting another close battle between these Central Division squads with NHL betting lines installing Tampa Bay as a slim -120 home favorite.
Here are our best free Hurricanes vs. Lightning picks and predictions for Tuesday, April 20, with the puck dropping at 7:40 p.m. ET.
Hurricanes vs Lightning odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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NHL sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonTampa Bay opened -126 at FanDuel on Monday evening, peaked at -130, bottomed out at -122 and is -124 as of 1 p.m. ET. The Lightning are drawing 56 percent of moneyline bets, but the Hurricanes are seeing 63 percent of moneyline cash. The total opened at 5.5 flat (-110) and is now 5.5 (Over -115), with ticket count and money running about 2/1 on the Over.
Check out the full line movement for this gameHurricanes at Lightning betting preview
Injuries
Hurricanes: Teuvo Teravainen LW (Out), Brock McGinn LW (Out).
Lightning: Steven Stamkos C (Out), Jan Rutta D (Out), Nikita Kucherov RW (Out).
Find our latest NHL injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Hurricanes are 6-0 in their last six games following OT on the previous day. Find more NHL betting trends for Hurricanes vs. Lightning.
Moneyline pick
The Hurricanes may have lost last night but they're still narrowly above the Lightning in the NHL standings. Rod Brindamour's squad is third in the league in point percentage at .716, one spot ahead of Tampa Bay's .689 points percentage.
While the Lightning are the higher-scoring team, averaging 3.36 goals per game to the Hurricanes 3.14, Carolina has the edge in a few other key categories.
The Bolts are strong on special teams, ranking fifth on the powerplay and ninth on the penalty kill, but the Canes are even better. Carolina leads the league with a powerplay percentage of 28 and has the sixth-best penalty kill unit. Carolina is also second in the league in face-off win percentage (54.2) and third in Fenwick For Rating, an analytic which measures a team's ability to control possession.
The other factor that has us leaning towards the Hurricanes in this game is their ability to roll out three strong goaltenders. Petr Mrazek played last night which means either James Reimer or Alex Nedeljkovic will get the start between the pipes today.
Reimer is 14-5 with a 2.68 goals-against average and a save percentage of .907, while Nedeljkovic is 10-4-2 with a 1.92 GAA and a .930 SV%. Although Tampa Bay has a terrific starting goaltender in Andrei Vasilevskiy, their backup Curtis McElhinney has been brutal posting a 3.48 GAA with a save percentage of .862 in nine games.
The Lightning have split each of their previous six two-game sets. After playing Vasilevskiy last night the Bolts are in a tough spot regardless of whether they play their star netminder on the tail end of a back-to-back or go with their struggling backup. With the Hurricanes 5-0 in their last five games after scoring two goals or fewer in their previous game, back them to bounce back with a win.
PREDICTION: Carolina (+100)
Over/Under pick
With the Under 5.5 cashing last night, the Under has gone 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings between these teams. While it might be wise to wait on betting the O/U until we know who the Lightning will start in nets, our early lean is once again on the Under.
These are two of the toughest defensive teams in the league with Carolina fifth in the league in goals allowed per 60 minutes with 2.34 and Tampa Bay seventh with 2.55. And while the Lightning are generally a strong offensive team, they have struggled in that area recently.
The Bolts have scored three or fewer goals in 13 of their previous 14 contests, averaging just 2.64 goals per game during that span.
With the Under cashing in each of Carolina's previous six games as a road underdog and the Lightning 4-10-1 O/U in their previous 15 games in Tampa Bay, back the Under again.
PREDICTION: Under 5.5 (-110)
Hurricanes vs Lightning betting card
- Carolina (+100)
- Under 5.5 (-110)
Picks made on 4/20/2021 at 11:08 a.m. ET
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