The Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full force and one of the title contenders could be on to the next round come Tuesday. The Carolina Hurricanes will welcome the New York Islanders to PNC Arena for Game 5 as they currently lead the series 3-1. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30 PM ET. New York avoided the sweep on Saturday thanks to Matthew Barzal, who scored in overtime to get this team on the board in this conference quarterfinal. Below, find our Islanders vs Hurricanes Game 5 picks.
Before diving into the NHL picks, check out our Stanley Cup Odds and the NHL Playoffs Odds.
The Hurricanes, the second-best team in the East in the regular season, is a heavy favorite in Game 5 with -224 moneyline odds for an implied win probability of 69.14%. The Islanders sit at +198 and have a 33.56% chance of extending the series. The total is set at 5.5 goals on Tuesday.
This was always going to be a very tough series for New York and it’s proven to be just that. New York stayed competitive in Game 3 but Games 1 and 2 were relatively lopsided. With the Islanders’ backs up against the wall on the weekend, however, they delivered. This contest was an absolute marathon, going a full 20-minute overtime before Barzal scored just 1:24 into the second OT period, giving the Isles faithful something to cheer about.
Barzal was the star of the show in this one, also scoring the team’s first goal in the second period after Seth Jarvis put the Canes ahead in the opening period. In net, Semyon Varlamov had a wonderful game, making 42 saves on 44 shots. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the other goal for NY. There hasn’t been a ton of production from the Islanders offense in the series, with Anders Lee’s four points leading the charge. Before Barzal showed out in Game 4, he didn’t contribute much.
There’s no question New York knows they face a massive uphill battle to potentially advance. But, winning one more and forcing the series back to UBS Arena would be considered a positive. They will need both Barzal and Bo Horvat to be at their best while Varlamov playing well again in between the posts would help a lot as well. The Isles were only one game above .500 on the road in the season.
Carolina had a tremendous season, finishing with a 52-23-7 record. The only team better than them in the Eastern Conference was the New York Rangers. The Hurricanes also managed to get better at the trade deadline, acquiring Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins. That move has definitely paid off as he’s proven to be a key piece for them.
Guentzel along with Jarvis, Martin Necas, and Andrei Svechnikov all have four points apiece in these playoffs, while Aho has three. There are a lot of different players contributing to this Carolina squad and it’s a big reason they’re not only up 3-1 but why they’re considered a serious Stanley Cup contender after making the conference finals last year. There were some positives from their Game 4 loss, like scoring both of their goals on the power play. But, a clear criticism is the fact that the Canes had 44 shots but only netted twice.
Regardless, this is a resilient team that is just simply better than the Islanders. They will relish in the opportunity that presents itself on Tuesday as they can close out the series in front of the home fans. Carolina was 27-10-4 in 2023-24 at PNC Arena. That’s a good sign ahead of the potential series-clincher.
Carolina won’t lose another to the Isles. They will finish the series off on Tuesday in convincing fashion. Take the moneyline with confidence.
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