The Carolina Hurricanes will take their 2-0 series lead on the road as they battle the New York Islanders on Thursday. Carolina won their first two games at home, and look to take a stranglehold on the series, going up 3-0.
The Carolina Hurricanes finished second in the Metro Division behind the New York Rangers. The Hurricanes are still one of the favorites to win the cup. Carolina went 52-23-7 during the regular season, despite losing in their season finale. In the win on Monday, the Hurricanes scored 5 goals on the Islanders.
For New York, they finished third in the division. The Islanders were well behind, as they went 39-27-16 on the season. New York went 8-1-1 down the stretch of the season, and won their final two games to get into the postseason. New York will take a last gasp at keeping this series alive at home.
The Carolina Hurricanes are favorites in Game 3. Carolina is listed at -160 over the Islanders. The total for this game is set at 5.5 goals.
Red Hot Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are scoring 4 goals per game during the postseason thus far. The Hurricanes averaged 3.38 per game in the regular season. In Game one, Evgeny Kuznetsov got the party started with a goal. Later, Stefan Noesen and Martin Necas added goals. In Game two, the Hurricanes saw Teuvo Teravainen, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, Jordan Martinook and Jake Guentzel all record their first goals of the postseason.
During the regular season, Aho and Guentzel led the charge. Aho had a team high 89 points, while Guentzel was second with 77. Jarvis was balanced in scoring all season long with 33 goals and 34 assists.
The Hurricanes have used Frederik Andersen between the pipes in each of the first two games. In those games, he has combined for 42 saves on 46 shot attempts. On the season, he was 13-2-0 with a 1.84 goals against.
Need to Defend
The New York Islanders were not a great defensive team in the regular season. They allowed 3.15 goals per game, which is in the bottom half of the league. New York has the league’s worst penalty kill unit at 71.5%. Fortunately, the Islanders do not go to the penalty box a ton, just 7.2 minutes per game.
Offensively, Kyle MacLean scored the lone goal in Game 1. In Game 2, the Islanders jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat scored in the first period. Anders Lee added a goal in the second period, before the Hurricanes came storming back.
Semyon Varlamov has been in between the pipes for both games so far. He went 14-8-4 in the regular season with a 2.60 goals against average. So far in the postseason, the 35 year old has allowed 6 goals on 63 shot attempts. The winner of this series will likely get the New York Rangers in the second round. New York leads their series against Washington 2-0.
Hurricanes Storm by Islanders
The Carolina Hurricanes are head and shoulders better than the New York Islanders. This is one of the most lopsided series in the first round of the postseason. Carolina is going to have no problem going on the road and winning this game.
The Hurricanes move a game away from sweeping. Take the Hurricanes at -1.5 (+165) as they beat the Islanders by 2+ goals in this game. Enjoy the game and good luck and all the National Hockey League postseason action!
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