The New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes meet Tuesday for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, as the series shifts back to Raleigh. Puck drop from PNC Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Islanders vs. Hurricanes odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Carolina leads the series 3-1.
The Hurricanes were finally able to end the league’s longest active road playoff losing streak, dominating the Islanders in Game 4 by a 5-2 count.
The Islanders are now on the brink of elimination, and New York has its play in the 1st 2 periods to blame. It hasn’t scored a 1st-period goal in any of the 4 games, and it has 5 total goals in the 2nd period in this series. In the last 3 games, the Isles have tallied 7 goals in the 3rd period.
The Canes struggled on the power play during the regular season, but Carolina had 2 goals on the man advantage in Game 4, going 2-for-5, and it is 5-for-19 (26.3%) on the power play in this series. That’s well above the 19.8% mark from the regular season, which was good for 20th in the NHL, according to covers.com.
Carolina was 2nd on the kill in the regular season at 84.4%, and New York is just 1-for-12 (8.3%) in this series on the power play, so the Hurricanes continue to put up a brick wall on defense in shorthanded situations.
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Islanders at Hurricanes odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 7:06 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Islanders +140 (bet $100 to win $140) | Hurricanes -165 (bet $165 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Islanders +1.5 (-190) | Hurricanes -1.5 (+155)
- Over/Under (O/U): 5.5 (O: +115 | U: -140)
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Islanders at Hurricanes projected goalies
Ilya Sorokin (31-22-7, 2.34 GAA, .924 SV%, 6 SO – regular season) vs. Antti Raanta (19-3-3, 2.23 GAA, .910 SV%, 4 SO – regular season)
Sorokin coughed up 5 goals on 29 shots in Game 5, with his team putting him behind the 8-ball with several shorthanded situations early on. The Hurricanes cashed in, as Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas beat him on the power play for the first 2 scores. Really, only 1 of the 5 goals he allowed could be considered a ‘bad’ goal.
Raanta has carried over the momentum from his strong regular season showing, making coach Rod Brind’Amour look smart. Some fans raised eyebrows when Raanta was picked over veteran Frederik Andersen to start Game 1, but the decision looks brilliant now.
The 33-year-old Finn has a 3-1-0 record, 2.46 GAA and .915 SV% in 4 starts in this series, and his Game 4 win was the 1st of his career on the road in the postseason.
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Islanders at Hurricanes picks and predictions
Prediction
Hurricanes 3, Islanders 2
Moneyline
The HURRICANES (-165) are moderate favorites in this close-out game, but don’t expect the Islanders (+140) to go quietly into the night. They’ll fight, grasp and claw all the way until the final whistle, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see this game need overtime before a winner is decided.
New York has its back to the wall, so expect it to throw everything and the kitchen sink at Carolina. It won’t matter, though. Carolina has won 9 out of the last 10 games at home in the playoffs, and the crowd will give it the extra boost it needs to force New York to the handshake line in this elimination game.
Puck line/Against the spread
The Islanders +1.5 (-190) are just a little bit over my personal limit of -180 for a standalone wager. If you need insurance, it isn’t worth risking nearly 2 times your potential return. Just play New York straight up for a better value. I think it’s going to be close, but there is no value playing the Isles on the puck line.
AVOID.
Over/Under
UNDER 5.5 (-140) is the play, although it will certainly cost you.
While the Over has cashed in each of the last 3 in the series, and the books have inched the total up slightly from a flat 5 to 5.5, go low.
This is an elimination game, so Carolina isn’t likely to go all-out on the offensive end, which could lead to turnovers and odd-man rushes to give New York hope. And the Isles are likely to be a little more conservative, too, as it doesn’t want to bury themselves early.
Toss in the fact the Carolina PK has been on fire, and New York cannot get anything done with the man advantage, and low is the way to go.
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