Hurricanes vs Predators Betting Preview (January 18th, 2021)

01/18/2021

The Nashville Predators start a two-game home series on Monday night with the Carolina Hurricanes skating into Bridgestone Arena.

Let’s jump into this Monday evening showdown in our Hurricanes vs. Predators betting preview with odds, picks and predictions.

Hurricanes vs. Predators Betting Preview

The Nashville Predators head into this contest with a perfect 2-0-0 mark on the early season after back-to-back wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets at home. Forwards Fillip Forsberg and Luke Kunin each picked up a goal in both contests, and Juuse Saros has been in net for those wins, making 71 saves out of 74 shots faced.

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They take on a Carolina squad that split their first two games of the year against the Detroit Red Wings, winning 3-0 on Thursday before dropping a 4-2 decision on Saturday. Each team is missing a key forward due to COVID-19 tracing, with Jordan Staal out for the Hurricanes and Mikael Granlund absent for the Predators.

Hurricanes vs. Predators Odds

Here are the lines for Hurricanes vs. Predators from BetMGM:

Spread: Hurricanes (-1.5 +230); Predators (+1.5 -300)
Moneyline: Hurricanes (-110); Predators (-105)
Over/Under: Over 5.5 (-110)/Under 5.5 (-110)

Bets We Like With a Hurricanes Win

Vincent Trocheck to Score a Goal (+350 BetMGM)

The 27-year old Pittsburgh native has made a small splash thus far to start his first full season with the Canes, scoring a goal and firing off 10 shots on net in the first two contests. Playing on the second forward line with sniper Andrei Svechnikov and speedy passer Martin Necas means the ninth-season veteran will have some open chances on a nightly basis. Look for him to get his second score of this year in this contest.

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Bets We Like With a Predators Win

Predators to Score First Goal (-115 DraftKings Sportsbook)

In both games against Columbus, the Predators allowed the first goal of the game and had to work their way back from those deficits in the latter half of the contest. With Thursday’s win over Detroit, Carolina is now on a 13-1-0 run when they score first on the road dating back to the start of last season. Nashville will need to get their offense rolling right from the opening puck drop to have a chance in this game.

Bets We Like Independent of the Outcome

First Period OVER 1.5 (-115 BetMGM)

These two clubs have gone over the total in the first 20 minutes in eight of their last ten meetings, and despite the fact that Carolina is 0-2 to the first period over, and Nashville is 1-1 thus far, I expect these two teams to get some open chances against one another. The Predators fired 27 total shots on goal in the opening frame of their first two games with Columbus, while the Hurricanes shot 23 times on net over two first periods in their series against Detroit.

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Hurricanes vs. Predators Prediction

Carolina is known for getting a ton of shot chances off and being able to outskate a lot of teams in the league, and those advantages should be enough to get past a Nashville team that hasn’t shown a lot of sharp energy until the later periods of the game.

Look for the Hurricanes to pick up a 4-3 victory on the road Monday night.