Nashville Predators (31-23-2, fourth in the Central Division during the regular season) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (36-12-8, first in the Central Division during the regular season)
Raleigh, North Carolina; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT
LINE: Hurricanes -192, Predators +162; over/under is 5.5
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Series tied 2-2
BOTTOM LINE: The Nashville Predators visit the Carolina Hurricanes for game five of the first round of the NHL Playoffs with the series tied 2-2. The teams meet Tuesday for the 13th time this season. The Predators won the previous meeting 4-3 in overtime. Luke Kunin scored a team-high two goals for the Predators in the victory.
The Hurricanes are 36-12-8 against the rest of their division. Carolina ranks 13th in the NHL with 32.0 shots per game and is averaging 3.1 goals.
The Predators are 31-23-2 against the rest of their division. Nashville averages 9.2 penalty minutes per game, the eighth-most in the NHL. Mathieu Olivier leads the team serving 70 total minutes.
TOP PERFORMERS: Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes with 24 goals and has 57 points. Andrei Svechnikov has three goals and five assists over the last 10 games for Carolina.
Roman Josi leads the Predators with 33 points, scoring eight goals and collecting 25 assists. Kunin has five goals over the last 10 games for Nashville.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hurricanes: 5-2-3, averaging three goals , 4.4 assists, 4.5 penalties and 10.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .917 save percentage.
Predators: 6-4-0, averaging three goals , five assists, 4.2 penalties and 9.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .931 save percentage.
INJURIES: Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin: day to day (lower body).
Predators: Matt Duchene: day to day (undisclosed), Viktor Arvidsson: day to day (upper body).
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