The Carolina Hurricanes look to stave off elimination when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Carolina returns home down 3-1 after losing Game 4 on Saturday, 6-4.

Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for this Central Division battle at PNC Arena. Tampa Bay is the favorite at -125. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts Carolina at +105 as the underdog.

Tampa Bay will be without Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson. Carolina has three players listed as questionable, including Vincent Trocheck, Warren Foegele, and Nino Niederreiter. 

Lightning Rally to Down Hurricanes

Tampa Bay found themselves trailing 4-1 with about six minutes left in the second period but responded with four unanswered goals on their way to a 6-4 victory. Both Stephen Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov led the way with two goals and an assist. Each scored a power-play goal.

Tampa Bay is averaging 3.60 goals per game and are connecting on 12.2% of their shot attempts, both second during the playoffs. They are first on the power-play at 41.2% after scoring three times on six power-play opportunities in Game 4.  Kucherov now leads Tampa Bay with 12 assists and 17 points. Brayden Point is the team leader in goals with seven and has 11 total points.

The Lightning are allowing 2.60 goals per game and they are killing off 75.8% of short-handed situations. Andrei Vasilevskiy did not have a great game but is still 7-3 with a 2.46 GAA and a .928 save percentage in the playoffs.

Hurricanes Look to Stay Alive

It was a troubling collapse by the Hurricanes. Carolina trailed by a goal entering the second period but responded with four goals in the span of a little more than eight minutes to take what looked like a commanding lead. Petr Mrazek allowed six goals on 26 shots. Four different players scored for the Hurricanes, including Jaccob Slavin, who had a goal and an assist.

Carolina is averaging 3.10 goals per game and is connecting on 8.2% of their shot attempts. The Hurricanes have connected on 20.0% of power-play opportunities. Sebastian Aho has been the team leader in scoring during the playoffs, leading Carolina with six goals and 11 points. Andrei Svechnikov has six assists and is tied for second with eight points.

The Hurricanes are allowing 2.80 goals per game and they are killing off 77.5% of short-handed situations. Mrazek will likely be back between the pipes after a tough outing. He is 1-1 in his to start since returning, posting a 3.90 GAA and a .873 save percentage.

Trends:

Tampa Bay:

• none 

Carolina:

• 4-1 in their last five games as the underdog. 
• 9-3 in their last 12 games at home.

NHL Predictions

That was a huge victory for Tampa Bay, who simply needs to win one of the final three games in the series to advance. They are not going to do it in this contest, however. While the Lightning did win the first two games in Carolina, look for the Hurricanes to come out with a greater sense of urgency, controlling play in earning the victory. This was the top team in the division, and I expect them to play that way in Game 5.

Pick: Take Carolina at +105.

The Total:

I look for the Hurricanes to get back to what got them here in the first place. This is a much better-checking team than what we saw in Game 4 and, the truth is, that Tampa Bay dominated this contest for all but about 10 minutes. Look for Carolina to have a much better performance as they help to keep the scoring low in this game. These teams have gone under in five of the last seven meetings in Carolina and 11 of the last 14 overall.

Pick: Go under under 5.5 at -132.

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