Islanders vs Hurricanes Prediction, Odds and Picks Apr 25
Islanders Cling to Life
The New York Islanders aim to keep their season alive when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 5 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Tuesday night.
The Hurricanes snapped their eight-game losing streak in road playoff games with a 5-2 victory at UBS Arena in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, as Sebastian Aho registered a goal and two assists. Carolina can move on to the second round if it can win for the 10th time in 11 postseason contests at home.
Aho and defenseman Brent Burns each boast five points in the series for the Hurricanes, who have won five in a row overall on home ice and are 30-10-3 at PNC Arena in 2022-23.
The Islanders beat Carolina for the first time in the playoffs Friday night 5-1 but gave up the first four goals en route to the damaging defeat Sunday. New York is just 17-20-6 on the road this season.
The Hurricanes are +800 in odds to win the Stanley Cup, while the Islanders are the longest shot on the board at +15000.
Top Line Must Boost Isles
If New York is going to battle back and win the series’ final three games, their top line must produce more.
Captain Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal each have just one goal and no assists in the first four games.
Barzal, normally a center, has played on the wing and recorded 11 shots while posting a -2 rating after missing almost the final two months of the regular season with a lower-body injury. Lee only has two goals in his last 14 games. Horvat is at +2 and 55% on faceoffs but has just seven shots on net in the series.
Horvat: “I think I can be a lot better. I think I’m doing a lot of good things away from the puck and winning my face-offs and doing all that kind of stuff but I’ve got to find ways to score big goals or get on the scoresheet and not in a 5-1 game or 5-2 game.”
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) April 23, 2023
The Islanders are still 3-1 ATS in the series, according to NHL odds – 2-0 at Carolina – and the over is 5-0 in the sportsbook across their last five games after one day of rest.
Canes Have Been Special
Special teams are key in the series, and Carolina is decisively winning that battle through the first four games.
The Hurricanes scored two more times on the power play in Game 4 and are 5-for-19 with the extra man in the series while killing off 11-of-12 chances for the Islanders.
Stefan Noesen, a 30-year-old journeyman forward who spent most of last season in the minors, leads the team with four power-play points, while forward Martin Necas and veteran defenseman Brent Burns have registered three each.
Forward Jack Drury left Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury, but Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters he was doing better Monday and could play Game 5.
The under is 5-1-0 in the Hurricanes’ last six home games, but the over is 4-0 in their past four with one day’s rest if you are online gambling.
Islanders vs Hurricanes Game Injuries
Islanders vs Hurricanes Head-to-Head
Carolina has won six of the last seven meetings, with the Islanders earning a 6-2 triumph in Raleigh on Oct. 28.
New York goalie Ilya Sorokin owns a reasonable .917 save percentage in the series but has faced 16 more shots (and seven more power plays) than Carolina’s Antti Raanta. Sorokin is 2-6-0 against the Hurricanes this season – 3-7-0 in his career.
Raanta is 13-0-1 at home this season after stopping 48-of-52 shots in the first two games of the series.
Despite solid goaltending and being two of the top five teams in the NHL in goals-against, the over is 3-1-0 in the series and 6-3-0 in the past nine meetings, according to NHL betting lines.
Islanders vs Hurricanes Game Information
- Game: Islanders (1-3) vs Hurricanes (3-1)
- Day/Time: Tuesday, April 25, 10:00 p.m. ET
- Location: PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
- Islanders vs Hurricanes Live Stream: NHL.TV
Islanders vs Hurricanes Betting Lines
Islanders vs Hurricanes Picks and Prediction
The Islanders must recover quickly from a demoralizing loss at home.
New York showed plenty of guts to fight through injuries and make the playoffs, but it has not won a road game in regulation or overtime since March 18. The only win in seven games since was a shootout triumph at Washington on March 29.
Sorokin will have to be close to perfect, the Islanders’ top players must deliver and their penalty killing has to improve if they are to extend the series.
Carolina is just 35-51 ATS, but we think the home crowd should carry the Hurricanes into the second round and lower their Stanley Cup odds.
The Islanders are listed at +135 in our Las Vegas hockey odds. This means that if you wager $100 on New York, you have a chance to win $135. The Hurricanes are -155, offering a chance to win $65 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Islanders a 42.55% chance to win, with Carolina at 60.78%.
