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The Carolina Hurricanes head to New York to take on the Islanders. There are three teams ahead of New York in the Metropolitan Division, and they will look to knock off two of them in as many nights.
Carolina is two points up on them in the standings, so a win here would be huge for New York.
The Islanders are playing on back-to-back nights, but they were in New Jersey yesterday, so no real travel was involved. However, they did serve New Jersey a brutal upset in that game -- as predicted by yours truly.
Carolina hasn't played since Tuesday, so they will be rested and ready to go. Given that, Raanta should have no problems starting today.
Semyon Varlamov made the start for New York last night. Lane Lambert likely did that so he could have Ilya Sorokin could be between the pipes for tonight's matchup. Though he is coming off a bad start against St. Louis, he has been tremendous this season and would like to continue to tear as this could be a massive win for his team.
Hurricanes vs. Islanders Betting Odds
BetMGM: Bet $10, Win $200 if any NHL Team Scores a Goal
Hurricanes vs. Islanders Match Details
Fixture: Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Islanders
Date & Time: Saturday December 9, 7:30 PM EST
Venue: UBS Arena, Elmont, NY
Hurricanes vs. Islanders Best Picks
Sebashitan Aho has 27 points on the season, and has been a leader for this team. He recently sustaid a lower body injury, and will not be playing in this one.
This means the pressure will fall on Andrei Svechnikov. It will be on him to step up, score a goal or two and lead this team to victory.
Andrei Svechnikov Any Time Goal (+180)
Hurricanes vs. Islanders Predictions
This will be a hard-fought game with few goals. While that's an easy prediction, it is also reflected in the line. It's not very often an over / under is set at (5.5). While Carolina has a leg up, having not played last night, New York is still playing with a fresh first-string goalie.
This game could easily go either way, but I believe the Islanders will pull off an upset for the second night in a row. It's unclear if New York is an actual force in the Metropolitan division, but they are not right now.
New York (+130)
BetMGM: Bet $10, Win $200 if any NHL Team Scores a Goal
