Central Division leader Carolina and Nashville square off

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Friday, May 7, 2021

Carolina Hurricanes (36-10-8, first in the Central Division) vs. Nashville Predators (29-23-2, fourth in the Central Division)

Nashville, Tennessee; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT

LINE: Predators +100, Hurricanes -120

BOTTOM LINE: The Nashville Predators play the Central Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

The Predators are 29-23-2 against Central Division opponents. Nashville averages 9.2 penalty minutes per game, the ninth-most in the league. Mathieu Olivier leads the team serving 68 total minutes.

The Hurricanes are 36-10-8 against the rest of their division. Carolina ranks 10th in the NHL averaging 3.2 goals per game, led by Sebastian Aho with 24.

In their last matchup on April 17, Carolina won 3-1.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mattias Ekholm leads the Predators with a plus-18 in 47 games this season. Erik Haula has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Nashville.

Aho leads the Hurricanes with 57 points, scoring 24 goals and adding 33 assists. Andrei Svechnikov has two goals and eight assists over the last 10 games for Carolina.

LAST 10 GAMES: Predators: 5-4-1, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.5 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .923 save percentage.

Hurricanes: 7-0-3, averaging 3.6 goals, 6.3 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game with a .925 save percentage.

INJURIES: Predators: Dante Fabbro: day to day (upper body), Mathieu Olivier: out (lower body), Viktor Arvidsson: day to day (upper body), Colton Sissons: day to day (upper body).

Hurricanes: Jordan Martinook: day to day (lower body).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.