Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning - 6/5/21 NHL Picks and Prediction

The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Carolina Hurricanes in game 4 of their best of 7 series on Saturday afternoon. The Lightning hold a 2-1 series lead after the Hurricanes won the previous game in Tampa Bay.

Carolina won the last game 3-2 in overtime despite being outshot by 10 in the game. The Hurricanes have averaged 3 goals per game during the playoffs. Sebastian Aho was the teams leading scorer during the regular season and leads them with 6 goals and 10 points during the postseason; he led the way with a goal and 2 assists in their game three win. Pert Mrazek got his first start of the postseason on Wednesday. He was efficient, only allowing 2 goals in 3+ periods with a .945 save percentage. The Hurricanes were 2-1 in his starts against the Lightning in the regular season. The Hurricanes rank 1st among active playoff teams with 39 shots per game in the playoffs.

Tampa Bay had their three-game win streak snapped in the last game. They have averaged 3.3 goals and 6 assists per game in the postseason. Nikita Kucherov has had an epic start to the postseason; he has 11 assists and 14 points through their first 9 games to lead the team. He also has led the way with 3 points in the series. Andrei Vasilevskiy has remained in net for the Lightning in all 9 games; he has allowed 2.29 goals per game with a .935 save percentage. The Lightning were 2-4 in his starts against Carolina during the regular season. The Lightning rank second with 4.25 goals per game and a +1.5-scoring differential at home during the playoffs.

AUTHOR: Joe Bonomo

Call center analyst by day, sports analyst by night. Joe knows how to break down the numbers to give you the best picks.