Count On New York Islanders Surprising Carolina Hurricanes in Mikko Rantanen Debut

Saturday is the best night of the week for hockey and is the ultimate opportunity for NHL fans, with a stacked slate of thrilling matchups that fans eagerly anticipate. The game that sticks out is the first appearance of superstar Mikko Rantanen with his new team in the Carolina Hurricanes, who face off against the New York Islanders. For bettors, this matchup provides a chance to capitalize on some of our recent strong trends, like our 21-10 record on our last 31 picks and our 17-8 record on our last 25 player prop picks.

All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

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We get our first look at the new Finnish connection on Carolina with Mikko Rantanen lined up to play his first game with the Hurricanes and superstar forward Sebastian Aho. The two Finland products may develop a chemistry unlike we’ve seen before and could create problems for an Islanders team that is red hot with three straight wins.

The confidence built from their recent run of success should help New York keep this game close but they will need to score as Rantanen has a pair of goals and six assists for eight points in his last five games against the Islanders.

He should get on the board with an assist as he ranks top 12 in the NHL over the last three seasons with 151 in 211 games played. The best chance for New York to win this game is to play a solid defensive game as they have the 14th-best goals against average at 2.94 which should clash against Carolina and their seventh-best defence with a 2.76 average.

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The Islanders have also gone under six goals in five of their last six home games and will need to play their best on defence to help backup netminder Marcus Hogberg maintain his 1.32 goals against average this season. The 30-year-old Swedish product is known predominantly for his time with the Ottawa Senators where he produced some stellar performances. He should help the Islanders shock the public as 88 per cent of betters are taking the Hurricanes on the moneyline.