Carolina Hurricanes vs. Arizona Coyotes Prediction: Can Hurricanes Score on Karel Vejmelka, Coyotes?
The Arizona Coyotes will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night as they try to stop a losing streak. Will the Canes be able to continue scoring on Karel Vejmelka and the Coyotes as they struggle to snap the skid? Ben Rajavuori provides his best bet in Hurricanes vs. Coyotes.
Ben Rajavuori - February 16, 2024, 2:25 PM EST
5 minCarolina Hurricanes vs. Arizona Coyotes Prediction: Can Hurricanes Score on Karel Vejmelka, Coyotes?
The lone game on the NHL slate tonight features the Carolina Hurricanes traveling to Arizona to take on the Coyotes. The Hurricanes are currently second in the metropolitan division with a record of 30–22. They’re coming off a loss against the Stars on Tuesday, which snapped back-to-back wins for the Hurricanes. They will play an Arizona team tonight that is seventh in the central division with a record of 23–29, although the Coyotes have been a scrappy team at home this year. The Coyotes have lost seven games in a row, and have been in bad form as of late. What should we expect tonight?
HURRICANES VS. COYOTES DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: February 16, 2024
- Game Time: 9:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: ESPN+
CAROLINA HURRICANES VS. ARIZONA COYOTES PREDICTION
The Hurricanes are in an interesting spot coming into this game. They are on the front end of a back-to-back, as they travel to Vegas overnight and take on the reigning and defending champions, the Golden Knights, tomorrow night. As such, it is difficult to tell exactly who will start in net, but either way, it will be a backup. The Hurricanes have injuries at the goalie position right now, as Frederik Anderson is on the IR with a blood clotting issue, and Antti Raanta is also out for a few weeks with a lower-body injury. That leaves backup Pyotr Kochetkov and Spencer Martin to play in between the pipes tonight and tomorrow night. There’s not a confirmed goalie for who will start which night, but either way it is a backup. Likely, it will be Spencer Martin, as Kochetkov has been the main goalie for the Canes lately, and will likely fare better against the Golden Knights tomorrow night. Meanwhile, the goalie situation is worse for the Coyotes. Connor Ingram has undoubtedly been the best goalie in Arizona, but he was injured in their last game and will be out for 7-10 days. With that, Karel Vejmelka will start in net, who has had a not-so-great season. Vejmelka is 6–14 in his 23 games played (no decision in three of them), and has just an 89% save rate with 3.36 goals allowed per game on average. He is facing a scary Carolina offense that scores 3.31 goals per game. Given that the Canes are such a good offensive team, they should cruise in this game against the backup Vejmelka. However, given that they have a big game tomorrow night against the Golden Knights, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Coyotes can crack through and score some on their own tonight against, the Canes who may overlook them a bit in this spot given the back-to-back situation. The last time these two met, the Coyotes only got 11 shots on goal. Tonight should be different on their home ice, where they have played much better hockey. The Canes had 39 shots on goal in that game, but only scored three goals against the better Connor Ingram. If they put up the same volume of shots tonight, they should have no issue scoring at least four goals against Karel Vejmelka. Therefore, I love the over in this game, as it is sitting right on six, which does give us the insurance of a push if it were to happen to end 4-2 or 5-1. I'm rooting for a 3-3 tie at some point to guarantee the win.
CAROLINA HURRICANES VS. ARIZONA COYOTES PICK
3 Unit Pick: Coyotes/Hurricanes Over 6 (-120) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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