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The Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning get their NHL seasons started at the Lenovo Center on Friday night. With home advantage, the Hurricanes go into the match as the betting favorite. But the Lightning will be determined to give their fans something to smile about in these desperate times. Below, we look ahead to the match in our latest NHL betting picks.
- What: NHL Eastern Conference
- Who: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
- Where: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
- When: Friday, October 11th, 2024
- Time: 7 p.m ET
The big picture
Jon Cooper would want to start the new season with the Lightning without the backdrop of Hurricane Milton. But for him and his players, a trip to North Carolina to face the Hurricanes is a welcome respite from the situation back home, and it could well serve as an inspiration to spur his team onto a season-opening victory.
For their part, Carolina has done all they can to accommodate the Lightning and full credit has to go to the franchise for their hospitality in providing their visitors with a training base to allow them to prepare for the season opener as best as they can.
In the last campaign, Carolina had a 52-23-7 overall record and a 31-11-5 home record. Tampa Bay had an overall record of 45-29-8. On the road, their record read 20-20-4.
The two franchises played a preseason match at the Lenovo Center last weekend. The Hurricanes won a tight match 2-1 after overtime. Will Friday night’s fixture follow a similar pattern? Let’s see what the top NHL betting online sites say.
Hurricanes vs. Lightning Match Betting
Home advantage looks to be playing a significant role in the betting to win the season opener.
On the money line, the Carolina Hurricanes are -130. Tampa Bay Lightning is +110.
Onto the handicap spread, and the Lightning are receiving the 1.5-point start. To win with the spread, Tampa Bay is -210. To win and cover the spread, the Hurricanes are +175.
On the total points line, the spread is 6.5. Under 6.5 is the favorite at -125, with over 6.5 goals at +105.
More NHL betting options can be found on our Hurricanes vs. Lightning betting table. All our odds are taken from the best sites for NHL betting.
| Hurricanes vs. Lightning |  |  |  |
| Hurricanes | -130 | -130 | -130 |
| Lightning | +110 | +110 | +110 |
| Hurricanes (-1.5) | +175 | +175 | +175 |
| Lightning (+1.5) | -210 | -210 | -210 |
Carolina looking for an improvement in 2024/25
The Carolina Hurricanes will have high aspirations as they embark on a new season in the NHL.
Last season was a disappointment. After topping the Metropolitan Division in 2022/23 and making it to the conference finals, Rod Brind’Amour would have had high aspirations for the 2023/24 campaign when it got underway.
Instead, the Hurricanes could only manage a second-place finish in the Metropolitan Division and their postseason ended in the second round with a 4-2 series defeat to the New York Rangers.
Ahead of the 2024/25 campaign, the Hurricanes are third favorites to win the Eastern Conference at +600. The betting favorites to win the conference this season are the New Jersey Devils at +475. The Devils are followed in the betting by the Florida Panthers at +500.
In the betting to win the Stanley Cup, the Hurricanes are the fifth favorites at +1100. They sit behind the Oilers (+700), the Devils (+900), the Panthers (+1000), and the Stars (+1000).
Tampa Bay looking to rekindle past glories
After back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021, and a losing appearance in the final in 2022, the last two seasons have been a setback for Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The previous two seasons have seen the Lightning eliminated from the playoffs at the first-round stage.
What makes those two losses all the more difficult to take is that Tampa Bay prides itself in being a team that knows how to win when it gets to the business end of the season.
The Lightning haven’t won a division since they topped the Atlantic in the 2018/19 season. Despite this, they still reached three Stanley Cup finals in the years since.
Last season they could only manage fourth in the division. To win it in the 2024/25 season, Cooper’s team is the third favorite at +450. Ahead of the Lightning in the betting are the Florida Panthers at +200, and the Toronto Maple Leafs at +250.
In the betting to win the Eastern Conference, the Lightning are sixth favorites at +900. While in the betting to win the Stanley Cup, Tampa Bay is joint-eleventh at +1800.
Hurricanes vs. Lightning Betting Picks and Predictions
Both franchises have full rosters to pick from ahead of Friday’s match at the Lenovo Center.
The two played out a tight preseason match last weekend with just the three goals scored. We expect a similar theme to follow this Friday, with both sides looking to keep things tight in their opening match of the season.
For our opening NHL hockey pick, we are going for under 6.5 goals at -125.
For a match-winner, we are going for the Hurricanes. They have a home advantage and we expect them to make the most of it. We are backing the Hurricanes to win and cover the spread.
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