Carolina Hurricanes vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction: Will the Canes Light the Lamp Early in Home Opener?
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Columbus Blue Jackets Prediction: Will the Canes Light the Lamp Early in Home Opener?
Hurricanes vs. Blue Jackets Start Time, Where to Watch, Odds
- When: October 12, 2022
- Game Time: 7:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: NHLPP/ESPN+
Click Here for Hurricanes vs Blue Jackets Odds
Although we had to wait what felt like an incredibly long five days for the season to really get underway after having just four games on the season thus far, tonight we have our first look at a real board here in this 22/23 NHL season and I am digging some of these spots. We are going to keep things a little less aggressive here in the first two weeks as I have nothing to go off of this season yet in regard to how teams look this year (preseason can only give a partial look) but I still feel great about some of these games tonight and am ready to dive in.
Hurricanes vs. Blue Jackets Prediction
The first game we are attacking is tonight's clash between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina was one of the most dominant teams in the league last year and I do not see that changing whatsoever, especially on home ice. They know how to put the biscuit in the basket when they are at PNC arena and in their home opener tonight I expect nothing less than that. They have won four of the last five meetings with Columbus and in those four wins they netted a very impressive 24 goals which averages out to a phenomenal six goals a game.
They were lights out in the preseason going 4-1 while scoring 24 goals (they score a lot) including an 8-1 beatdown over Columbus on the road in the preseason last week. They can dominate any opponent they face and am sure they are looking to run up the board here this evening.
On the other side of things is the Blue Jackets who although they are not going to magically become contenders this year I do believe they will be much better than last year. I loved the way they played all year and as I said many times last season, they are good to score some goals and even better at giving them up. The pace of play they go by is ideal for totals in these matchups. They will force the issue and try to get some pucks in the net early against this strong Carolina team and give the Canes plenty of looks going the other way from mistakes. They also will be starting their backup netminder tonight with Elvis Merzlikins out.
Columbus was the best team in the league for first period overs last season and with the way these guys looked preseason it should not change. Columbus saw six or more goals in four of their last five preseason games while Carolina saw six or more in all of them.
The Canes should win but I don't see why we shouldn't ride the total here.
Hurricanes vs. Blue Jackets Picks
- 1st Period Over 1.5 (-135) (Bet $135 to win $100)
- Over 6 (-130) (Bet $130 to win $100)
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