The Montreal Canadiens will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to face the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Thursday evening with the game scheduled to start at 7:00 PM ET and will air on Bally Sports South.

Montreal has been an improved team this season as they enter this matchup in 6^th place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 15-13-5 and 35 points. The Canadiens are the 4^th lowest-scoring team in the league this season as they enter this game averaging 2.88 goals per game while also having one of the worst power-play units in the NHL with a power-play success rate of 17.65% which ranks 23^rd in the league. Nick Suzuki has been the best player offensively for Montreal as he leads the team in goals, assists, and points with 10 goals, 20 assists, and 30 points. The Canadiens have also been one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL as they are allowing an average of 3.39 goals per game which ranks 24^th in the league. Cayden Primeau has also had a below-average season, however, he enters this game with a record of 4-3 and a save percentage of .902 while allowing an average of 3.2 goals per game. The Montreal Canadiens will look to build off the momentum following their win against the Chicago Blackhawks when they travel to face the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes are in 4^th place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 18-13-4 and 40 points and ended their two-game losing streak following a 5-2 win on the road against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday. The Hurricanes have been an average team offensively as they rank 14^th in the league in goals per game with an average of 3.26 goals per game, however, they are a top ten power-play unit as they rank 7^th in the NHL in power-play success rate with a success rate of 24.56%. Sebastian Aho remains the best player on the team again this season as he leads the team in all three scoring categories with 13 goals, 18 assists, and 31 points. The Hurricanes are also an average team defensively as they are allowing an average of 3.24 goals per game. However, Antti Raanta has struggled this season at goalie for Carolina as he is allowing an average of 3.6 goals per game and has a .854 save percentage. The Carolina Hurricanes will look to build off the momentum following their win on Wednesday against the Predators when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening.

BookMaker has the Carolina Hurricanes listed as -267 moneyline favorites at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday evening. Carolina is 9-0-1 in the last ten including winning the previous six meetings while winning by an average margin of 2.2 goals per game over the last ten and 2.67 goals per game over the last three games in the series.

Carolina has dominated the series against Montreal having only lost one game in the last ten meetings which came in overtime. The Hurricanes have also won by an average of over 2 goals per game in the last ten meetings, winning by an average of 2.2 goals per game over the last ten and 2.67 goals per game over the previous three contests which is why I am taking the puck line for the Carolina Hurricanes at -1.5 when they host the Montreal Canadiens.