Chris Boline
- What: New York Islanders vs. Carolina Hurricanes
- When: Friday, October 28, 2022, at 7:05 p.m. EST
- Where: PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina
- How to watch: NHLPP, ESPN+
The 2022-23 NHL regular season is in full swing and Friday night will treat fans to a matchup between two Eastern Conference foes. The Carolina Hurricanes will play host to the New York Islanders in a battle pitting two of hockey’s most defensively sound teams up against one another. It’s still early in the season, and teams’ weaknesses and strengths still beginning to emerge. This matchup should be a great chance to see how these teams stack up early on.
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Islanders vs. Hurricanes Odds
 | Puck Line | Money Line | Total |
| Islanders | +1.5 (-165) | +165 | Over 6 (+112) |
| Hurricanes | -1.5 (+145) | -183 | Under 6 (-123) |
The Hurricanes enter play as favorites to win on their home ice with (-183) odds. A two-goal game is considered less likely, with the spread of Hurricanes -1.5 set for (+145). The Islanders have (+165) odds to win the game and the books anticipate a low-scoring game between the two quality defenses, with the total leaning more on the side of Under 6 goals at (-123).
Islanders
The Islanders are off to a mid-level start to the 2022-23 NHL season, going 3-4 in their first seven games. The Isles took down the Rangers in their most recent match in a 3-0 victory over their crosstown rivals. They’ll look to follow that up by picking up a surprise road win over the Hurricanes on Friday night.
This season, the Islanders have once again prioritized defense. They’ve surrendered just 18 goals across their first seven games while scoring 22 themselves. Their 18 goals conceded is the third-fewest in the Eastern Conference, and they’ll need to maintain that level of defensive prowess if they want to put up a fight against Carolina.
While the Islanders are averaging more than three goals per game this season, they’ll find scoring harder to come by against what is a stalwart Hurricanes defensive group. Attacking options such as Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Kyle Palmieri will need to come up big and beat Antti Raanta in net.
On the year, Lee leads the team with seven points, including four goals. Barzal is the team’s assist leader with seven, but he has yet to score early on in the campaign. Palmieri is coming off a two-goal performance in the win over the Rangers, and could stay hot with another tally in the goal column against Carolina. If the Islanders can steal an early goal vs. Carolina, they could lean on their defense to keep the Canes off the board in a low-scoring game.
Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes enter play as favorites over the Islanders on their home ice, and for good reason. In terms of Eastern Conference teams, the Canes have one of the best cases to win the 2023 Stanley Cup. This is a team loaded from top to bottom, and their physical nature makes things difficult for opponents across all three periods.
When these teams faced off last season, the Canes got the better of the regular-season split, taking the series 2-1. They outscored New York by a margin of 12-7 throughout those games, winning their lone matchup on the road and splitting the series in Raleigh. The Hurricanes have jumped out to a hot start, going 4-1-1 and claiming the lead in the East throughout their first six games. Defense has been the name of the game for Carolina, as they’ve conceded just 14 goals this year.
Offensively, the Canes have yet to truly get going. They have 20 goals on the year, and while they still boast a +6 goal differential, it’s largely due to the fantastic job their defense is doing in protecting the net. Carolina will look to the likes of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas and young star Seth Jarvis to find a way to get past the strong Islanders defense and get Carolina an early lead.
This season, Svechnikov and Aho are tied for the team lead with nine points. Svechnikov has scored seven goals and provided two assists while Aho has four goals and five assists. Necas has added three goals and five assists in his first six appearances of the year. On the opposite end of the ice, newcomer Brent Burns has been a key addition to the defense, where he shares a line with the elite Jacob Slavin.
The Pick
I expect the Hurricanes to win this game, but at (-183), the odds simply aren’t favorable enough to warrant a bet. With that in mind, I’m targeting the total in this game. While two out of three of their matchups last season flew over the six-goal total, I’m expecting a different outcome for this matchup. These teams make their name off of defense, and that should be the case when they face off on Sunday. The Islanders and Hurricanes (alongside the Flyers) have conceded the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference thus far into the year, so we’re going to ride that trend and bet on Under 6 goals at (-123).
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