NHL Betting Odds: Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals

Added on Nov 28, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NHL

Short slate of NHL betting for Sunday but we’ll take a look at a Southeast Division matchup between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes. Caps have been great at home this year with a record of 11-1-1 and enter this game having won 6 of their last 10 overall. The ‘canes have been treading water all year as underscored by their 10-10-2 record.

Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
November 28, 2010 2:00 PM Pacific

In a matchup between two of the top 10 scoring offenses in the league the knee jerk reaction is to play this game Over the total. Washington is #3 in scoring offense averaging 3.42 goals per game and Carolina is #7 with 3.05 goals per game. The Hurricanes are also ranked #26 in scoring defense allowing 3.14 goals per game. Here’s where it gets tricky–Washington is definitely playing better defense this year and are tied for #13 in scoring defense. A bigger problem has been their insanely erratic play on both ends of the ice. In the past week, for example, they’ve looked dominant in a 6-0 win over Tampa Bay but have also lost 5-0 to both Atlanta and New Jersey.

One of the most important components of NHL totals handicapping is in season head to head form. Teams that play each other a certain way often repeat this tendency in future matchups. If teams play it tight, it’s unusual to see them come out and open things up in the next game. Carolina has already played Washington twice this season, with the Caps winning both games by surprisingly low scores of 3-0 and 3-2. Caps have gone Under in 4 of their last 5, Carolina has gone Under in three straight. We’ll take a contrarian position here and look for another low scoring game between Washington and Carolina along the same lines as the previous two meetings between the clubs this season.

Bet Carolina Hurricanes/Washington Capitals Under 6 +105