Premium NHL Pick : December 18 #1 [Free]

Carolina Hurricanes @ Florida Panthers:

Canes are 1-12-4 on road this season. They are coming off a victory on home ice against the Dallas Stars. Before that they played four games in a row on road. That roadtrip started good with a win in Pittsburgh which surprised everyone. They however couldn't keep that momentum and they lost three in a row.

Florida Panthers are starting to play better. They have won three of their last four and the most impressive victory for them came in New Jersey when they beat the Devils with a score of 4-2. Later they were edged by the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Afterwards they took all 4 points from 2 games. First they beat the New York Islanders with an amazing score of 7-1 in New York. Then they beat the Atlanta Thrashers in Florida with a score of 4-3.

This is the third meeting between these teams this season. First one was in Carolina that the Canes won it 7-2. Then the Florida Panthers got even with a 3-0 home victory.

Panthers are still without forwards David Booth, McArdle, Stillman and Tarnasky. They have four forwards sidelined. They still find a way to win hockey games. That's remarkable. Campbell is expected to return tonight.

Vokoun will make another start tonight for the Panthers while Cam Ward is going to play for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Looking at the current trends, Panthers have been winning some tough games. Florida is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Carolina. I like their defensive strategy. They don't let the opposition score many goals. They have allowed only 12 goals in their last 5 games. Meanwhile the Canes allowed 17 goals in as many games. They should be able to keep their good home record against the Canes tonight. Take Panthers to win this one.

PREMIUM NHL PICK: FLORIDA PANTHERS TO WIN [MONEYLINE]

1.75 @ Bodog.com

Outcome: