The Carolina Hurricanes (17-13-4) and Nashville Predators (19-15-0) square off for the second time this season on Wednesday, December 27 at 8:00 PM ET at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. In this NHL betting opportunity, the Hurricanes are slightly favored to win with a moneyline at -130.

The Hurricanes have gone 1-4 in their previous five matchups. Their most recent encounter was a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders, which also marked their fourth loss in this stretch by a one goal margin.

Sebastian Aho is the face of their offense right now. He currently leads them with 31 points, 13 goals, and 18 assists. He will need to be excellent for them here.

The Hurricanes are averaging 3.24 goals and are taking 33.9 shots per game. Their offense has recorded 28 power play goals total, while only allowing 19. This shows they have a power play percentage at 24.3.

Their defense has been allowing 3.18 goals per game while also taking 25.7 shots. Their penalty kill percentage stands at 82.7, which gives them a slight edge in that regard in comparison to what the Predators put up.

The Predators have gone 3-2 over their last five matchups. In their recent game, they were defeated 3-2 by the Dallas Stars. In both losses later, they have allowed three or more goals in each occurrence.

Filip Forsberg continues to show that he is capable of leading their offense. So far, he has accumulated 38 points, 16 goals, and 22 assists. These are also better than Aho’s, which should be a competitive match between the two.

The Predators are averaging 3.12 goals and fire off 29.8 shots a game. Their power play situations have been solid, with 25 goals scored and 25 allowed, which makes it difficult to win in those situations. Their power play percentage is currently at 20.5, which is slightly lower than the Hurricanes’.

They are allowing teams to average 3.06 goals and 31.0 shots each game. Their penalty kill percentage will be key here, as it stands at 77.3.

MyBookie has the odds for this matchup, with the Carolina Hurricanes as slight favorites to succeed. Looking at previous results, this should be another appealing outcome.

 

The last time these two teams met was in the middle of December, where the Predators won 6-5 in an overtime thriller while playing in North Carolina. Now back at home, they are 11-8 here while the Hurricanes are 8-10-1 on the road. Overall, the Predators are slightly more appealing at home and have better momentum coming into this matchup.