Free Picks: Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes

The Panthers enter their next contest against Carolina on a winning streak. While that is certainly impressive, I am interested in how many goals will be scored this season. While the Hurricanes have a staggering defense, their explosive offense leads me to believe goal scoring will be easy on Tuesday night.

In a division with giants, Carolina and Florida are proving to the rest of the NHL that the road to the Stanley Cup may go through their respective franchises. Two top teams, Florida and Carolina are big fish in a small pond.

And Tuesday night, we get to see these monsters go head-to-head.

Despite the Panthers being a top team this season, they have struggled against Carolina. The Panthers are 1-1-2 against the Hurricanes in the regular season, mustering 11 goals in 4 games.

Of course, the Panthers were dealt a huge blow thanks to Aaron Ekblad’s injury. Not only has that impacted the Panthers’ daily NHL odds, but it has impacted their Stanley Cup odds as well.

Both teams have had impressive winning streaks this season. Carolina won 8 in a row earlier in the year, while the Panthers are riding a solid 6-game win streak.

This is a match-up between Florida’s offense and Carolina’s defense. The Panthers have quickly become an elite group of offensive snipers, ranked 3rd in total goals. As for the Hurricanes, one of their biggest strengths is their defense.

I think it is only fitting for this free NHL pick that I focus on total goals. I am confident in this game hitting the over. While the value isn’t that great (-278, 888Sport) you need to go with what the best NHL bet is – and for this game I see more than 4.5 goals being scored.

While Carolina has a solid defense, they also score several goals themselves. Florida’s defense is in the middle of the pack. Not excellent but not a pushover, either. Florida gives up their fair share of goals and their head-to-head contests against Carolina have not been low scoring.

I trust Carolina and Florida’s offensive talents more than Carolina’s defense. This could be a low-scoring game (think 3-2), but that is enough for the over to cash.

• Carolina is 8-1-1 in last 10 against Florida.
• The Hurricanes O/U record this season is 18-16-3
• The Panthers average 2.33 goals per game in last 3 versus Carolina.
• Florida’s O/U is 10-7-1 on the road this season.