Hurricanes vs. Blackhawks Recap: Carolina ML and Chicago Under Cash

The Hurricanes beat the Blackhawks 5-2 in regulation, and Carolina pulled away in the 2nd. Mark Jankowski put Carolina ahead with 57 seconds left in the 1st, then the Hurricanes scored twice in the first 3:28 of the 2nd, including a shorthanded goal from Sebastian Aho. Carolina outshot Chicago 39-26, and Brandon Bussi stopped 24 of 26. Neither team scored on the power play. Two DARIMARKET plays cashed on this game.

What cashed

Hurricanes moneyline (-245 at DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: Chicago was playing without Bedard (IR) and Nazar (suspended), and Carolina had been holding opponents to 21 shots a game. We liked Carolina to win outright and set a pass point past -260. - What happened: Carolina won by 3. The Hurricanes led 3-0 by 3:28 of the 2nd, and when Roman Kantserov cut it to 3-1 at 4:40, Taylor Hall answered with a slap shot at 6:05 to push it back to 4-1. Jordan Martinook added a backhand at 5:00 of the 3rd for the fifth goal. Chicago did get 26 shots, more than the 21 we leaned on, but Bussi handled them. - Worth watching: The read rested on Chicago's missing scorers. At -245 you need Carolina to win about seven times in ten just to break even, so the price matters as much as the matchup.

Blackhawks under 2.5 team goals (-135 at DraftKings): CASHED - Our read: Chicago was scoring 2.0 goals on 20 shots a game, now without Bedard and Nazar, and was facing a Carolina penalty kill working at 91.3%. This was a longer shot that landed, posted at 64 confidence. - What happened: Chicago finished with 2 goals, 0.5 under the line. Both came at even strength: Kantserov's unassisted wrister at 4:40 of the 2nd and Oliver Moore's goal at 14:14 of the 3rd. The penalty kill part of the read held up. Chicago went 0-for-2 on the power play, and Carolina scored on Aho's shorthanded goal at 2:09 of the 2nd. The game ended in regulation, so the DraftKings rule that leaves OT out of team totals never came into play. - Worth watching: Chicago's shot total of 26 was above the 20 a game in our read, so the under leaned on Bussi more than the shot profile did. Take another look while Bedard is out and the price stays near -135. We set the pass point at -145.

How the game played out

The swing came early in the 2nd. Aho's shorthanded wrister at 2:09 doubled the lead, and Jackson Blake scored at 3:28 to make it 3-0. Kantserov got one back, but Hall's goal 1:25 later put the lead back to three. Spencer Knight finished with 34 saves on 39 shots for Chicago, while Bussi saw 13 fewer shots at the other end.

Trends to watch

• Carolina shot volume: Carolina put up 39 shots, 13 more than Chicago. Aho had 6 shots on goal in 19:37 of ice time, with 2:33 on the power play and 1:35 on the penalty kill.
• Special teams: Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play. Carolina's lone special-teams goal came shorthanded, and K'Andre Miller, who assisted on it, logged 21:49 with 2:17 on the kill.
• Depth scoring: Carolina's five goals came from five different players. Blake had a goal and an assist in 15:54, and Mike Reilly had two assists from the back end.

Stats are from the ESPN box score. More reading: NHL recaps, what a moneyline is, how implied probability works, and the Hurricanes banner story.