The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes'continue their best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinals series Thursday with Game 5. Carolina leads 3-1. Puck drop from PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Devils vs. Hurricanes odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Hurricanes posted an impressive 6-1 road win against the Devils in Game 4 on Tuesday, pushing New Jersey to the brink of elimination.
Carolina faced a similar situation in Game 5 against the New York Islanders and lost a series-clinching game on home ice. It hopes to avoid another trip to Newark and will work hard to force the Devils to the handshake line while resting up to await the winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Florida Panthers series.
The teams were tied 1-1 after 20 minutes in Game 4, but the Hurricanes posted 5 goals in the 2nd period to run away with the road game. All 6 goals for the Canes were even-strength markers, too, and it was enough to chase starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek. Carolina outshot New Jersey by a 29-to-22 margin.