T.M. Selection: Carolina Hurricanes.

I like the Carolina Hurricanes to win this game against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. The Hurricanes have looked really good in their games lately and I think they are going to continue surging in this game too. They have won 7/9 of their previous 9 games and they have been finding ways to grind out all the close games too. A lot of their wins have been closer games, including their 2 most recent games where they won both by a score of 3-2. They are on their home ice here though and they have looked even better in those games and have won 5 home games in a row now. I expect them to make it 6 in a row here, especially when the Avalanche haven't looked good on defense lately and have been collapsing in their games. The Avalanche have lost 3/4 of their previous 4 games but they haven't looked good in any of these games. They have a loss to the Coyotes which is a very bad look for them and they even lost a close OT game on their home ice to the Flames. They bounced back with a 5-4 win over the Islanders in their next game but that game exposed a lot of their flaws on defense. That was a 1-1 game going into the 3rd period and then it was 5-1 before the halfway point of that period. The game ended 5-4 which means the Avalanche let the Islanders score 3 goals in the last 10 mins of that game to almost catch up and tie it. That was not the only game this has been a problem in though. Right after the game where they almost blew that 5-1 lead, they played their most recent game and they took an early 3-0 lead over the Devils in that game. Once again, the Avalanche blew that lead and ended up losing the game 5-3 this time. These previous games have exposed the holes in their defense and they are going to be in trouble if they don't fix this problem. The Hurricanes have a very good offense and they are going to score goals on their home ice in this game, especially with the way that defense has looked. I like the Hurricanes to win this game.

T.M. Prediction: 4-2 Hurricanes.