Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning Game 4 odds, picks and prediction
The Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning play Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs second-round series Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena. Below, we analyze the Hurricanes-Lightning odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Hurricanes scratched out a 3-2 overtime win in Game 3 in Tampa to make it a series, cutting the Lightning's lead to 2-1. Carolina could really make things interesting if it follows the same blueprint from last time out.
The Lightning won 75% of their games in the regular season on home ice, going 21-7-0. G Andrei Vasilevskiy was even better, winning 90% of his starts at Amalie, going 18-2-0. Tampa Bay looks for a bounce back, as it tries to take a commanding 3-1 series lead to Raleigh, N.C., for Game 5.
Hurricanes at Lightning: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports' betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 5:05 a.m. ET.
- Money line : Hurricanes +140 (bet $100 to win $140) | Lightning -165 (bet $165 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS : Hurricanes +1.5 (-190) | Lightning -1.5 (+155)
- Over/Under : 5.5 (O: +115 | U: -140)
Hurricanes at Lightning: Projected starting goalies
Petr Mrazek (6-2-3, 2.06 GAA, .923 SV%, 3 SO) vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy (31-10-1, 2.21 GAA, .925 SV%, 5 SO). Stats from regular season.
Head coach Rod Brind'Amour changed things up, giving Mrazek the nod in net for Game 3 over rookie G Alex Nedeljkovic. It wasn't that Nedeljkovic was playing poorly, but the change worked nonetheless. Mrazek allowed two goals on 37 shots in the 3-2 overtime victory.
Vasilevskiy was still effective in Game 3 despite the loss as he allowed three goals on 27 shots. C Jordan Staal's power-play goal in the extra session wasn't Vasilevskiy' fault, as he was hung out to dry on a breakaway.
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Hurricanes at Lightning: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Lightning 4, Hurricanes 3
Money line (ML)
The LIGHTNING (-165) are moderate favorites and the public is hitting them at nearly a 3-to-1 clip. It makes me want to side with the Hurricanes, quite frankly, but it's hard to see Vasilevskiy losing back-to-back games at home.
He was a ridiculous 18-2-0 with a 1.75 GAA and .936 SV% in 20 starts at Amalie in the regular season.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The Hurricanes +1.5 (-190) are quite expensive on the puck line. There is no sense in playing them at nearly two times your potential return. If you like them to win, play it straight up.
AVOID.
Over/Under (O/U)
OVER 5.5 (+115) is worth a small-unit play as I think the Lightning can get to Mrazek for a handful of goals.
The Hurricanes worry me a bit with LW Warren Foegele (undisclosed), RW Nino Niederreiter (upper body) and C Vincent Trocheck (undisclosed) each questionable for Game 4. However, Carolina showed it can still generate offense without some of its key players, so the Over is the play.
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