This article is part of our NHL Picks series.
NHL Bets Today: Expert NHL Picks and Props for Lightning vs. Hurricanes
The Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-5) travel to meet the Carolina Hurricanes (11-7-0) on Friday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
This is the third and final meeting of the regular season, with each team posting a shutout win in the previous two meetings at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The Lightning won 3-0 behind Jonas Johansson on Oct. 24 as the Hurricanes wrapped up a long road trip, and Carolina exacted revenge on Nov. 11 with a 4-0 shutout victory behind Pyotr Kochetkov.
I'm excited about this meeting, as I am taking my 15-year-old son, who is a Lightning fan, to the game. While I am not excited about that factoid, and feel it is poor parenting on my part, he was born in Florida, so I can overlook the team choice. At least he likes hockey, and for that, we're all very thankful. And we have sweet seats in Section 103 behind the visitor bench, courtesy of a buddy on my Ice Aged Hockey Club, so we'll be like Borat all night. King of the castle, king of the castle.
The difference between the first two games and tonight's game might be the return of Andrei Vasilevskiy. He has been sidelined all season after recovering from back surgery, but he might return on three-game road trip which begins tonight. If not, it will be Johansson (8-4-5, 3.41, .894 SV%, 2 SO) in between the pipes. The team placed Matt Tomkins on waivers Thursday, so Vasilevskiy's return is imminent.
As far as Carolina is concerned, it might be Kochetkov (1-4-0, 3.09, .875 SV%, 1 SO). Frederik Andersen remains on IR with an illness, and Antti Raanta left his most recent appearance in the first period with a lower-body ailment, so it looks like Koochie goes against the Lightning. His overall record is poor, but remember, that lone win and shutout is against Tampa Bay.
The Lightning have won just once in the past five games against the Metropolitan Division, while posting a paltry six wins in the past 19 road games. Tampa Bay is also 5-11 in the past 16 games against the Eastern Conference, and 8-20 in the past 28 games against winning teams, so Vassy's return is very welcome, if it comes Friday, or Monday in Colorado, etc.
The Hurricanes have won eight of the past 11 games overall, while protecting home ice successfully in 48 of the past 66 skates at PNC Arena. And Carolina has been good at stacking wins for the better part of the past two seasons, going 42-19 in the previous 61 following a victory.
Carolina is a rather moderate favorite, and pricey at some books, but you can still get it at -160 at FanDuel, which is the best bargain on the board.
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NHL Puck Line Bets for Lightning vs. Hurricanes
- Hurricanes ML (-160 at FanDuel)
As far as the total is concerned, it's usually all about the Under when the teams meet in North Carolina. The Under is 20-6-2 in the past 28 meetings overall in the series, including each installment this season. But the Under is 8-1-2 in the past 11 battles in Raleigh, too.
For Tampa Bay, it has been strong at the offensive end, as per usual. It ranks eighth in the NHL in goals scored (3.6 per game), while checking in fourth in the league with a red-hot power play at 30.3%. The defensive end, the Lightning hasn't been as great, allowing 3.6 GPG, while giving up 32.1 shots on goal per outing. Both of those numbers are in the lower third of the league. However, the penalty kill is solid at 85.7%, which ranks seventh in the NHL.
As far as Carolina is concerned, it ranks rather middle of the road at 16th in the league with 3.2 goals per game. The Canes take a lot of shots, going for 34.0 SOG per outing, the third-most in the NHL, and the power play is efficient at 24.6%, or seventh overall. Defensively, Carolina is so-so with 3.2 GPG allowed (17th), which ranking No. 1 in shots against (26.0). The kill is also middle of the road at 79.3%.
Based on the way things have gone this season, and the overall series trends, the lean is to the Under.
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NHL Totals Bets for Lightning vs. Hurricanes
- Under 6.5 (-125 at ESPN BET)
NHL Player Props for Lightning vs. Hurricanes
Looking to the individual player props, we have a good one for each side. For anytime goal scorer, although with a shutout for each team this season, we haven't had any one player score in each meeting, we have had players red-hot lately.
Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has been on one lately, going for two goals and six points on his current four-game point streak, with a goal and four points on the power play during the span. In November, he has seven goals and 18 points in just 10 games, too, including eight PPPs. As such, playing the power-play point prop is a great bet, especially at near even-money.
- Nikita Kucherov Over 0.5 Power-Play Points (-105 at BetMGM)
For the Hurricanes, Sebastian Aho has been on a roll since flipping the calendar from October to November. Fishy has four goals and 10 points in eight games in the current month, and he had a goal and an assist in that 4-0 win at Amalie on Nov. 11, including a power-play assist. Six of his 10 points in November, and 11 of his 16 points overall have been on apples. As such, that's the play in tonight's battle.
- Sebastian Aho Over 0.5 Assists (+105 at BetMGM)
And since it's Black Friday, we'll toss in a few more quickies to play, too. I mean, you have to get something extra on this day, right? Or should we have waited until Cyber Monday? Anyway...
Martin Necas got on the board with a goal against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, and hopefully that will jump-start his game. The Nove Mesto na Morave, Czechia native has just two goals and four points in the past 10 games, and we're going with a "due to score" roll of the dice here.
- Martin Necas Over 0.5 Points (-140 at BetMGM)
Tampa's Victor Hedman has been humming along with three goals and 12 points in 11 games in the month of November. For just a single point, he is a decent bargain.
- Victor Hedman Over 0.5 Points (-135 at BetMGM)
Be sure to keep up with our up-to-the-minute NHL player props page to find the best values across the leading sportsbooks.
