The past three Stanley Cups have been won by the Florida Panthers (twice) and Carolina Hurricanes, so it’s only fitting to have them kick off the entire NHL season after closing out the preseason as well. Even with Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk now united in South Beach, they’re underdogs in Carolina, but we’re going to avoid sweating out a winner entirely with our Panthers vs Hurricanes prediction.
When it comes to Carolina, they’ve been one of the top teams in terms of preventing pressure on net for several seasons now, while Florida has been one of the most aggressive since before either of the Tkachuk brothers were Panthers. Something will have to give on that front, but whichever one prevails, we’re still expecting a finish similar to their 3-2 shootout preseason game. Sure, it wasn’t a meaningful game, but it was Florida that played their studs, yet they’re the ones that scored just twice.
Despite both Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen no longer part of this matchup, we still have a stingy Carolina D in front of Brandon Bussi and a Florida team that still isn’t fully healthy. Therefore, we’ve got a lower-scoring game to start the season.
Panthers vs Hurricanes prediction: Under 6.5 (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable to -130.
