Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Preview
03 June 2021
Carolina racked up 80 wins during the regular season to be the number one seed in the Central Division. The Hurricanes had little trouble in defeating the Nashville Predators in Round 1, but things have been tougher against the Lightning.
Tampa Bay had just 75 points during the regular season, but it was still enough for third in the Central Division. The Lightning upset the Florida Panthers in the first round and are looking to do the same against the Hurricanes.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are -160 on the money line in Game 3 of this playoff series.
Hurricanes Struggling to Score
If the Hurricanes are going to get back into this series, then they will have to find a way to generate some offense. Carolina has scored just two total goals against Tampa Bay, but this team averaged 3.1 goals per game this season.
Sebastian Aho has emerged as one of the best offensive players in the NHL, and he led the team in scoring this season. Carolina needs Aho to set the tone, but the rest of the roster must find a way to pitch in as well.
Rookie goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic has been great against Tampa Bay, allowing just four goals. Nedeljkovic just needs to continue playing well and allow the offense to catch up.
Lightning Tough to Defeat
Tampa Bay just doesn’t make many mistakes, and that has been the case so far in this series. The Lightning don’t have the speed to keep up with the Hurricanes, and so Tampa Bay has focused on slowing down the pace.
Alex Killorn and Brayden Point have both scored five goals so far this postseason, and Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 12 postseason points. Tampa Bay doesn’t overwhelm teams with offense, but they can find scoring when needed.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been the MVP of this series up to this point, allowing just two total goals to the Hurricanes. Another solid effort from Vasilevskiy should give Tampa Bay a 3-0 series lead.
Carolina Completes Upset
At some point, the Carolina offense is going to break through, even though Tampa Bay has been great at shutting down opponents. The Hurricanes are going to take some chances on Thursday night in an effort to create scoring opportunities.
The Lightning are also looking for some more offense after scoring just four total goals in this series. Tampa Bay has done everything well up to this point, but the final two wins won’t be easy to come by.
Tampa Bay has been in complete control of this series so far, but look for the Hurricanes to get one back on Thursday night. Bet the Carolina Hurricanes money line as they complete an impressive in Game 3 to get back in the series.
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