Subscribe
Follow Us
The Carolina Hurricanes look to start their campaign for a Stanley Cup championship with a win over the Ottawa Senators. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Senators-Hurricanes prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
Last year the Ottawa Senators finished just six points out of the playoffs last season. They bring back all three of their top point scorers from last season with Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, and Claude Giroux all returning. While Alex DeBrincat is gone, Vladimir Tarasenko joins the squad. He comes in with 50 points from last season, with 18 goals and 32 assists. He will be looking to rebound to his 2020-21 form when he scored 82 points in 75 games. This young core will be on a quest to make the playoffs this year, and if they can make slight improvements, that should be within reach.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes were four games away from the Stanely Cup Finals. They would lose to the Florida Panthers. This year the Hurricanes are a favorite to win the President's Trophy and make a run at the cup. The Hurricanes return a lot from last season's second-highest-scoring offense. They also get Andrei Svechnikov back and healthy after missing a chunk of time last year. The Hurricanes bring in Michael Bunting who scored 23 goals last year for Toronto. They also beefed up the blue line with Dmitry Orlov and Tony DeAngelo. This means last year's top defense may have gotten even stronger.
Here are the NHL Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Senators vs. Hurricanes Odds
Ottawa Senators: +1.5 (-152)
Carolina Hurricanes: -1.5 (+126)
Over: 6.5 (+106)
Under: 6.5 (-130)
How to Watch Senators vs. Hurricanes
Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT
TV: NHLPP/ESPN+
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Senators Will Cover The Spread
Article Continues Below
For the Senators, it all starts with the combination of Time Stutzle, Brady Tkachuckn, and Claude Giroux. This is expected to be the top line for the Senators this year. Stutzle led the team with 39 goals last year and 51 assists, while Tkachuk and Giroux both scored 35 last year. This is also the group on the top power-play unit. Last year, the group combined for 28 power-play goals and 53 assists on the power play.
While Josh Norris is still on IR, others will need to step up to fill the hole on the second line. Norris missed almost all of last year but scored 55 points the year before. Ottawa was hoping he would be back in time for the season, but that is not looking likely. Norris was expected to fill the hole left by the trade of Alex DeBrincat. Drake Batherson will be part of that second line. He scored 66 points last year with 27 goals and 44 assists. Batherson will be joined by Ridly Greig. Last year he played the first 20 games of his career and was solid. He scored two goals and seven assists in those games.
Joonas Korrisalo will be looking to make the start in goal for the Senators tonight. Last year he was traded from the Blue Jackets to the Kings. With the Kings he started 11 games, going 7-3-1 with a 2.13 goals-against average. With a better defense in front of him, he was much better than he was with Columbus. Ottawa is hoping Korrisalo can provide that level of play for them this year.
Why The Hurricanes Will Cover The Spread
Michael Bunting joins the top line for the Carolina Hurricanes this year. Last year with Toronto he scored 23 goals with 49 assists. Meanwhile, he had a plus 21 rating and will be bringing that to the line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis. Aho scored 67 points last season with 36 goals and 31 assists. Meanwhile, Jarvis scored 14 goals last year with 25 assists. Still, for as good as the top line is, the second line is just as good. Martin Necas is the leader of that second line. He scored 28 goals last year with 43 assists, leading the team with 71 points. He did a lot of that work on the power play with nine power-play goals and 17 assists.
Jesperi Kotkaneimi and Teuvo Teravainen round out the second line. Kotkaneimi scored 43 points last year with 18 goals. Teravainen played just 68 games last year and scored 12 goals with 25 assists last year. While the offense should be amazing, the defense will be great too. The top line of Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns is back together. They were one of the best defensive duos in the NHL last year. Former Bruins defenseman Dmitry Orlov joins the squad and is right now looking to be in the third defensive pairing for the Hurricanes. He will be joined by a fellow newcomer, Tony DeAngelo, who is coming in off a 51 points season.
Frederik Andersen will be in between the pipes for this game for the Hurricanes. He was solid last year with a 21-11-1 record and a 2.48 goals-against average. It was a slight step back from his 2021-22 campaign, where he had 35 wins and a 2.17 goals-against average. If Andersen can return to his form from the prior year, he should see more starts this year, but if not Antti Raanta will be looking to take over in the net for the Hurricanes.
Final Senators-Hurricanes Prediction & Pick
The Hurricanes have become a consistent playoff team, but they have yet to get over the hump and get to the Stanley Cup Finals. The offense for the Hurricanes is amazing. It requires a team to have multiple high-quality defensive pairings to slow them down. Even more the power play is great. Ottawa will not have enough firepower to keep; up in this game. They will be limited by Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin. That pairing was the best at causing off-angle shots last year, which will allow Frederik Andersen to get hot. When he gets going, Andersen can be one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. Last year, Carolina was dominant when they took the lead. They play with a snowball effect. Once they get going, they are hard to stop. They will get going in this game. Take the Hurricanes to cover in this one.
Final Senators-Hurricanes Prediction & Pick: Hurricanes -1.5 (+126)
