{"id":126152,"date":"2022-03-04T09:15:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T14:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=126152"},"modified":"2022-03-03T21:53:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T02:53:39","slug":"nhl-predictions-march-4-with-pittsburgh-penguins-vs-carolina-hurricanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2022\/03\/04\/nhl-predictions-march-4-with-pittsburgh-penguins-vs-carolina-hurricanes\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: March 4 with Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to another day of NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head and other factors that may play in. We also have a featured game of the day, which is considered must-watch TV. Today\u2019s featured game is the<\/i> Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes. Be sure to check out our late predictions as well.
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NHL Predictions: March 3rd including Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes<\/h2>\n

Minnesota Wild vs Buffalo Sabres<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Wild 0-1 Sabres<\/h4>\n

Kaapo Kahkonen<\/a> will likely get the start with Cam Talbot<\/a> starting against the Philadelphia Flyers the night before. Minnesota has been struggling in recent game’s with four straight losses before Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> has 64 points coming into Thursday’s games. It’s been a struggle on defence in the four-game losing streak prior to Thursday’s game. The Wild have given up three or more goals, including 12 in back-to-back games against the Calgary Flames.<\/p>\n

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Buffalo is coming off a huge 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jeff Skinner<\/a> is having a bounce-back season with his 21st goal in the victory over the Leafs. Tage Thompson<\/a> has also had a bounce-back year with 23 goals. Craig Anderson<\/a> leads the team in wins with seven, but the Sabres have been through plenty of goalies this season. Buffalo may be heading towards another season with no post-season, but they’ll compete every night.<\/p>\n

The Wild need a win in the worst way and facing the Sabres should fix that.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Wild win 4-2.<\/p>\n

Detroit Red Wings vs Tampa Bay Lighting<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Red Wings 0-1 Lightning<\/h4>\n

Tampa Bay and Detroit played a wild 7-6 game earlier in the season in the only meeting so far. The Lightning came into Thursday night’s game<\/a> against the Pittsburgh Penguins on a five-game winning streak .Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a> started that game, so we may see Brian Elliott<\/a> get the start against Detroit. Steven Stamkos<\/a> leads the team in goals with 26 while Victor Hedman<\/a> has 40 assists. This game also has a tantalizing over\/under of 6.5 according to BetMGM.<\/p>\n

Detroit picked up a 403 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in its last game. The Red Wings are also coming off that seven-goal effort in a 10-7 loss to the Maple Leafs. Dylan Larkin<\/a> leads with 27 goals while Calder Trophy candidate Moritz Seider<\/a> has 35 assists. Alex Nedeljkovic<\/a><\/span> likely gets the start, but check social media often for confirmed goalies.<\/p>\n

The Steve Yzerman<\/a> Bowl is always a fun game, but his old team should have the edge.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Lightning win 5-3.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Devils 0-1 Rangers<\/h3>\n

New Jersey has lost three of its last five, including a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last game. The Devils have averaged five goals in their last three games and got seven in a 7-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Jesper Bratt<\/a> continues to be a bright spot for New Jersey with 19 goals and 50 points.<\/p>\n

The Rangers snapped a mini-losing streak with a 5-3 rally over the St. Louis Blues. Chris Kreider<\/a> is among the league leaders in goals with 35 and Igor Shesterkin<\/a> continues to make a play for the Vezina Trophy. The Russian has a 1.98 goals-against-average and .940 save percentage. Alexis Lafreniere<\/a> has played well over his last 10 games and could be a sneaky play in daily fantasy games.<\/p>\n

The Rangers will look to get some goals and this early.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Rangers win 4-1.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes<\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Penguins 0-2 Hurricanes<\/h3>\n

Both teams will be coming off back to back-to-back games, so there could be lineup changes. It’s likely we’ll see different goalies from the previous nights. Casey DeSmith<\/a> likely goes for the Penguins and Antti Raanta<\/a> probably gets the crease for the Hurricanes. Carolina does a pair of 4-3 victories over Pittsburgh this season. Sebastian Aho<\/a><\/span> is tops in goals (24) and assists (32) for the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

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Pittsburgh is coming off a win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. The Pens have three straight wins and Kris Letang<\/a> has felt like his old self again with 42 assists in a contract year. Jake Guentzel<\/a> leads in goals with 25, but Evgeni Malkin<\/a> and Sidney Crosby<\/a> are playing like All-Stars as well.<\/p>\n

In the battle of backups, DeSmith might be a bit better than Raanta and that’s the difference in a tight game.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Penguins win 3-2.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>