The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers will collide tonight for Game 1 of their best-of-seven series from PNC Arena.
Below, you can look at the loan Eastern Conference game on tonight’s NHL slate and at some of our best bets on the FanDuel Sportsbook.
New York Rangers (+136) vs Carolina Hurricanes (-164) Total: 6 (O+104/U-128)This series will likely come down to which team sticks to their roots and plays the style of hockey that has gotten them to this point. The Hurricanes have been one of the better defensive teams in hockey all season long, while the Rangers have relied on Igor Shesterkin to bail them out as they found offensive success from their top-end forwards. The likely Vezina Trophy winner in the Rangers crease certainly has the capability to steal a series by himself, but the defensive core in front of him is questionable at best, and that’s going to make things difficult for him against a Carolina team with a ferocious forecheck.
Antti Raanta was solid in goal for the Hurricanes in Round 1 when he was able to play, and he’s performed well enough to give the Canes confidence in front of him, with Frederik Andersen remaining sidelined. Even if the Rangers are able to tighten up defensively in Game 1 of the second round and moving forward, they will have to figure out Carolina’s home dominance after they won all four games in the friendly confines in their Round 1 victory against Boston. Rod Brind’Amour has found the magic touch on home ice and that’s why you should look for his Hurricanes to put up an impressive victory in Game 1 by multiple goals.
In terms of the total, the Hurricanes will likely want to keep this game low-scoring, which is a benefit to them, and they’ll be able to dictate matchups tonight as the home team, which means this contest should be played in a style to their liking. It’s a different matchup tonight than the Bruins presented with New York being deeper offensively, but the Hurricanes should be able to limit the Rangers offense like Pittsburgh did early on in their series, which means the under-six is the play tonight at -128.
Best Bets: Hurricanes Puckline -1.5 (+146), Under 6 (-128)
