Carolina at Nashville

Nashville beat Tampa Bay 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday. Steven Stamkos scored in regulation and then won it in the shootout, and Filip Forsberg added two assists for his fourth straight multi-point game. Before that came a 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders and a 4-3 loss to Washington. The Predators' last three games were all decided by a single goal. Carolina is 12-2-2 and Nashville is 5-4-5, and the Hurricanes are the better team by record. By my count, the Predators have still earned a point in 10 of their 14 games. They have scored 3 goals per game and allowed 3.4 over that stretch, 42 for and 47 against, so the games stay close even when they lose. A team that lives in one-goal games and extra time doesn't need much to flip one. Nashville gets a sizable underdog price here, and our bankroll shows a profit if the Predators win a little over a third of the time. A game decided late by one bounce, a power play or a shootout is the kind of result a plus price pays for. With Stamkos at eight goals in 14 games, Nashville is the right side on the moneyline tonight.