Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes Betting Pick and Preview

A couple of nights after dropping a 4-1 decision in Washington, the Carolina Hurricanes get another shot at the Capitals when they host Alex Ovechkin and company in a potential first-round playoff preview. If the season were to end today, the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals would face the seventh-seeded Hurricanes in the opening round. That’d be scary news for Carolina, which has lost three straight meetings with the Caps and eight of the last 10. It’s all the more reason for the Canes to avenge Tuesday’s defeat with a victory tonight at home, where they’ve won four of their last five games — the only exception being a 6-3 loss to the league-leading Lightning. Washington has been tough to beat on the road of late, however, claiming seven of its last 10 trips into opposing arenas.

A Look at the Odds as listed at BetOnline at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 28)

A Look at the Stats

Where’s the Value?

If it’s surprising to see the Hurricanes favored in this range on their home ice, it shouldn’t be. Carolina is been chalk of -140 or more in all but two of its home dates since February 3, including a week ago against Tampa Bay. It’s definitely worth noting that oddsmakers aren’t dogging the Capitals as much as they did the Lightning, perhaps tipping their hand about what they think might happen tonight. Then again, Tampa Bay was playing its second game of a back-to-back when it visited the Hurricanes and the line steamed up to -140 from an opener in the -110 range.

Despite the fact that these teams played to a low-scoring 4-1 final two days ago (the game was tied 1-1 going into the third period before Washington scored two goals, then added a late empty-netter), oddsmakers haven’t budged on their total, posting the same 6 that they listed on Tuesday. We may, however, see a higher-scoring contest here. Washington has given up a lot of goals all season on the road (3.34 per game), while the Canes are averaging 3.05 goals per outing on their home ice. Prior to a 2-1 OT win over stingy Montreal Sunday night, Carolina had scored a total of 14 goals in its first four games of a five-game homestand. To top things off, each of the last four meetings between these teams in Carolina has yielded at least seven goals, including a 6-5 Washington shootout win the last time the Caps traveled to Raleigh.