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Posted at 12:45 PM EST.

OT Included. We’re going to switch gears a bit here and take the Ducks with OT included because it has such great value. Spotting a half puck with the Ducks is an option too but in what looks like a low scoring game, we’re going to be a little more conservative and here’s why:

Carolina is like an NFL team searching for a QB after its first three options went down. The Hurricanes recalled goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. Nedeljkovic, who leads the AHL in wins this season with 12, was needed after goalie Curtis McElhinney left practice early Thursday. McElhinney’s status in not known. Nedeljkovic, 22, has a 12-4-1 record with a 2.94 goals-against average and .890 save percentage this season. That .890 save % in the minors tells us he’s not ready quite yet and now the Hurricanes will be forced to use Petr Mrazek. To give you an idea of how bad Mrazek is, we have highlighted the goaltenders that are in the same range as he is in terms of Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA).

 In another personnel move, the ‘Canes placed forward Micheal Ferland on injured reserve. Ferland has missed the past three games as he recovers from a concussion. Ferland is a bottom six player on 90% of the teams in this league. On Carolina, he’s a key piece to their rancidness. In an era where every team has two or three studs or stars in their lineup, the ‘Canes have none. Victor Rask is their second line center and Justin Williams, who had some net-front presence five years ago is alongside Rask on the second line. The other winger on that second line is somebody you never heard of so we’re not even going to mention him. The third and fourth lines are comprised of no-name NHLers like Lucas Wallmark, Clark Bishop, Philip Di Giuseppe, Warren Foegele and others. It’s no wonder that the ‘Canes score every leap year and to make things even more difficult, they have no goaltending.

Carolina is a strong possession team and rank highly in that department while the Ducks rank near the bottom, which is why Carolina is favored here. The market believes that a team that possesses the puck so often is underachieving and therefore a correction is coming. We’re going to disagree because you still need to put the puck in the net and these third rate players have not shown that ability.

This is a frustrated and very weak team with no goaltending. Furthermore, the ‘Canes are 0-3-0, scoring a single goal, and allowing 10 goals while playing in the Pacific time zone. Tonight’s game against Anaheim will be the fourth of the five games played in that time zone with the final one against the Vancouver Canucks next month. Last year the Carolina Hurricanes were 1-3-1 in the five games played in that time zone.

The Hurricanes offense is flat-lining. With Micheal Ferland out of the lineup, Jordan Staal has returned to the top line to center Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. However, Staal suffered a concussion in the game against the Sharks, and so we will see Sebastian Aho return to center and almost certainly see Jordan Martinook promoted to the top line. Saku Maenelanen was called up from Charlotte and will likely make his NHL debut tonight. The Hurricanes don’t even have one scoring line and now will face the NHL’s best goaltender. That the ‘Canes are evenly priced or favored here is lunacy and our attack on the ‘Canes is going to be relentless until they are priced like the rancid team that they are.

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