LiontipsCarolina vs. St. Louis. NHL Match Prediction and Bets
Command Analysis
Current form
Carolina is in third place in the Eastern Conference and may soon gain leadership, because it is only a couple of points behind New Jersey and has five games in reserve. For most of the season, the Hurricanes have demonstrated great results and were on a winning streak, and only recently have they begun to alternate successful matches with defeats. Thus, in the recently completed away series, they lost to Colorado (4:6), dealt with Vegas (5:2), and after an unexpected failure in the match with Utah (1:4), they returned to their home court and proved their superiority over Ottawa with a score of 4:0.
It is worth mentioning that the Hurricanes have been playing very well on their home ice throughout the year, winning six games out of seven. Their strongest performance can safely be called the first game segment, in which they have a 19:8 ratio of goals scored and goals conceded, and often earn a comfortable advantage. Plus, Rod Brindamour team is in perfect order with the game in unequal compositions. Firstly, he has a 23.2% power play conversion rate, and is also among the top six in neutralizing the opponent power play, with 84.8%.
Martin Nečas also continues to show incredible play, having already reached the 26-point goal+pass mark and being the club top scorer by a wide margin over the other forwards.
Disqualifications and injuries
Andersen, Fast, Kochetkov and Jarvis will not take part in the upcoming fight due to injuries.
Interesting trends for betting
- Carolina averages 34 shots on goal
The Hurricanes play a powerful attack and spend a lot of time in the offensive zone, taking a lot of shots on the opponent goal.
- According to statistics, the "hurricanes" carry out 15 power moves
Carolina doesn't play hard, so you rarely see a lot of power plays from them.
Current form
St. Louis is still outside the playoff zone and currently occupies the 12th place in the Western Conference. The team cannot improve its position and demonstrates rather mediocre results, often being on a losing streak. Let us recall that it has just come off a series of four defeats. Thus, at home, the “Notes” lost to Washington (1:8), Boston (2:3), but after an away defeat to Buffalo (3:4 OT), they nevertheless pulled themselves together and in a tough fight dealt with Boston with a score of 3:2 in overtime.
By the way, the club is one of the most conceding in the league today, and on average, no less than three or four pucks end up in its net. It is clear that with such a game in defense, the Blues will not be able to claim anything serious this year, and they will not be able to find stability. It is noteworthy that the second twenty minutes are the best for Drew Bannister squad, during which they feel extremely comfortable, because the game is played with the far benches. The first game segment, on the contrary, usually turns out to be a failure, and in it they have 9:18 in goals scored and conceded.
On the road, St. Louis has managed to achieve only two victories in regulation time up to this point, but has also lost within 60 minutes only four times in nine matches.
Disqualifications and injuries
Leddy, Krug, Thomas and Broberg will not take part in the match due to injuries.
Interesting trends for betting
- St. Louis has a 77.6% power play neutralization rate
The Blues are pretty weak on the penalty kill, allowing opponents to take advantage of every fifth attempt on average.
- The Blues are averaging 25 shots on target per game.
The "Notes" are forced to spend a lot of time in their zone and rely on counterattacks, so the opponent has the initiative
Trends
Bet 1st period: total over 1.5 goals
In four out of five games involving visitors, the first period was productive
1.80Bet 2nd period: home team win
In four out of five games, Carolina took the second period
1.95Tip and bets
We think that in this match, Carolina should not leave St. Louis with a single chance for a favorable outcome. The Hurricanes are superior to their opponents in class this season and continue to show excellent results. On home ice, they have won six out of seven games in regulation time. The Blues look rather pale in meetings with the leaders and often lose within 60 minutes. In addition, many face-to-face meetings between the clubs have been in favor of Rod Brind'Amour squad, so it definitely makes sense to play their victory with a handicap.
Prediction - Carolina win with Asian handicap (-1.5) on pucks for 1.85
Bet on individual total
Carolina remains the league least-conceding club and usually has no more than two pucks in its net. St. Louis often has problems converting chances in matches with such opponents and does not score three times. Incidentally, in the last four out of five matches, the "Nota" has had no more than two goals scored. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the "Hurricanes" have only once conceded more than two times on their ice.
We bet on the individual total of St. Louis under 2.5 goals with a coefficient of 1.55
Total Bet
Previous meetings between the teams have often been productive and spectacular. St. Louis plays exclusively open hockey, so it often misses a large number of goals. In addition, it will be very difficult for it to contain the onslaught of its opponent for all 60 minutes, since on the home ice, Carolina does not stop running to the attack and tries to score as much as possible, so it makes sense to expect at least six goals.
We take the total over 5.5 pucks with a coefficient of 1.72
