{"id":459258,"date":"2024-12-23T12:50:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T17:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=459258"},"modified":"2024-12-23T12:50:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T17:50:28","slug":"nhl-predictions-dec-23-carolina-hurricanes-vs-nashville-predators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/12\/23\/nhl-predictions-dec-23-carolina-hurricanes-vs-nashville-predators\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: Dec. 23 Carolina Hurricanes VS. Nashville Predators"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the latest edition of NHL Predictions. Each day, the team here at Last Word on Hockey will dive deep into analysis for any given game to give you the scoop on what elements can change the outcome. Today, we\u2019re looking at the contest between the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> and the Nashville Predators<\/a>. Be sure to keep an eye on our other NHL Predictions as the season presses on.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Carolina Hurricanes at Nashville Predators<\/h2>\n

Time:<\/strong> 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

TV:<\/strong> FDSNSO, ESPN+<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes are giving their neighbouring state a visit for a festive game with the Predators before each team gets a quick Christmas vacation. This will be the first time these two teams will face each other in the regular season and the only time Nashville will be hosting.<\/p>\n

In the offseason, former Carolina defenceman Brady Skjei<\/a> signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Nashville Predators as an unrestricted free agent. Furthermore, Hurricanes General Manager Eric Tulsky was originally a consultant for the Preds. This was the role which put him on the NHL\u2019s radar and ultimately led to his hiring by the Hurricanes. It is only fitting for both teams\u2019 pre-Christmas games to be a reunion behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

The Carolina Story<\/h2>\n

Starting off this festive edition of NHL Predictions, let\u2019s discuss some Canes hockey, not the peppermint candy variety. When the puck dropped in Madison Square Garden, the play led right into a goal for the New York Rangers<\/a> as Jimmy Vesey<\/a> tipped in a pass, completing a give-and-go with Chad Ruhwedel<\/a>. Only 17 seconds into the game and the Carolina Hurricanes found themselves down a goal already. However, no scoring was to be had for the rest of the first period.<\/p>\n

In the second frame, things really heated up on the ice for the Canes. Within seven minutes and some change, Brett Berard<\/a> received a penalty for delay of game. Sending the puck over the glass, he gave the Canes a key power play. The initial two minutes came up with no goals, but the effects and wear-down of the Blueshirts extended. William Carrier<\/a> snuck in a goal just nine seconds after the power play ended. Helping on the play was Jordan Staal<\/a>, who notched his 400th NHL career assist, alongside Jaccob Slavin<\/a> who sent the shot that Carrier swept in. Not long after, Carolina drew another penalty, this time for four minutes due to an injury on the play, as Jack Roslovic<\/a> received a high stick from Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re<\/a>. Returning shortly after getting patched up from losing a tooth, Roslovic lit the lamp as he tipped in a shot from Dmitry Orlov<\/a> to give the Canes the go-ahead goal on the power play.<\/p>\n

In the final minutes of the game, the Canes shot for the empty net goal, sealing the deal at 3-1. The second and third goals saw an interesting name appear on the scoreboard. That name being Canes Goaltender, Pyotr Kochetkov<\/a>, provided two assists for his first two-point game. Pyotr Kochetkov became only the second goaltender in franchise history to log two points in a single game, with the other being Kay Whitmore<\/a> of the Hartford Whalers<\/a> during a 9-5 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> on March 30, 1989.<\/p>\n

The Nashville Story<\/h2>\n

The Preds\u2019 last game was quite the show. I wouldn\u2019t quite say yet that they have been on a heater, but they have certainly been getting toasty. In the third game of a four-game homestand, they faced off with the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>, who sit second in the Pacific Division. The game was pretty calm in the first period, with a single goal for the Preds near the 15-minute mark by Zachary L’Heureux<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The second period, however, seemed to be a bit more interesting. Within the first ten minutes of the game, Jonathan Marchessault<\/a> found the back of the net. Except he technically didn\u2019t. Prior to the goal, Tanner Jeannot<\/a> was hooked by Marchessault, which led to the recall of his goal. Nonetheless, he still found a way before the period was over to get on the scoresheet while star defenceman Roman Josi<\/a> made his mark in his first game back after missing four due to injury. Assisting Marchessault on the second technical goal of the game, Josi recorded his 80th regular season point in the calendar year, making him the first European defenceman to accomplish multiple 80-point years with his second.<\/p>\n

As the third frame began play, however, the Kings bridged the two-goal deficit and brought the game to overtime. However, just a little over a minute into bonus hockey, Nick Blankenburg<\/a> backhanded a rebound from Filip Forsberg<\/a> clean between the pipes, sealing the victory for the home team with his first NHL career overtime goal. This victory was a roll of the snowball as they are slowly but surely trying to gain momentum, with this game being their third in a row in which they recorded at least one point.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions Featuring the Carolina Hurricanes at the Nashville Predators<\/h2>\n

This has the chance to be a very interesting game to watch. Neither of these teams compete in the same conference, and there really isn\u2019t much rivalry between the two. Despite that fact, the points this game will yield are something both teams could stand to gain from. Currently, both teams are pretty equal in save percentage, but goal generation is significantly in favour of the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

The special teams will be something to watch in the upcoming game since both have displayed some impressive numbers. The Predators currently sit nearly 10 percent above the league average for the penalty kill, with the Hurricanes trailing them slightly. However, the Canes maintain an efficient number for the powerplay, being several percent above the average, while the Preds are currently trailing by a few themselves below the league average. If both of these teams bring their A-game, it will be one show for sure. It could be anyone\u2019s game, but going off of numbers, the likelihood of the win goes to the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Hurricanes win 4-3<\/em><\/p>\n

Your Nightly Prop Bets<\/h2>\n

Tonight for the Canes, we\u2019re going back with Andrei Svechnikov<\/a>. For the second scorer, though, we\u2019re taking a look at the blue line, namely Jaccob Slavin. In the previous game against the Rangers, Svechnikov led the team in shots on goal with five. Though he came up without a goal, he did land an assist for Sebastian Aho<\/a>\u2019s empty net goal. Meanwhile, considering previous seasons compared to this season, a goal from him may happen sooner rather than later. Furthermore, Slavin has been getting some good looks lately. In yesterday’s game against the Rangers, his shot nearly met the back of the net for the Canes’ first goal. Nonetheless, he gained the assist after Carrier swept the shot in.<\/p>\n

As for Smashville, I would consider Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos<\/a>. Marchessault has been impressive, leading the team in goals. Currently, he sits on a three-game goal streak, scoring in each of the games in this most recent homestand. As for Stamkos, his scoring has been spread a bit thin across many games. However, he does lead the team alongside Marchessault for game-winning goals.<\/p>\n

That does it for this festive NHL Prediction. From all of us ti all of you<\/a>, have a merry and blessed Christmas!<\/p>\n

Main photo by: James Guillory-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the latest edition of NHL Predictions. Each day, the team here at Last Word on Hockey will dive deep into analysis for any given game to give you the scoop on what elements can change the outcome. Today, we\u2019re looking at the contest between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Nashville Predators. Be sure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5358,"featured_media":435597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,10,4547,31,4548],"tags":[6010,2052,1106,1355,275,78,6011,48,4108,329],"class_list":["post-459258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-hurricanes","category-hockey","category-predators","category-nhl","tag-carolina-hurricanes-predictions","tag-jaccob-slavin","tag-jack-roslovic","tag-jonathan-marchessault","tag-jordan-staal","tag-los-angeles-kings","tag-nashville-predators-predictions","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-pyotr-kochetkov","tag-roman-josi"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5358"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459302,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459258\/revisions\/459302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}