Who is favoured, Carolina Hurricanes or Pittsburgh Penguins?

Carolina Hurricanes, at 50.8% in PuckCast's preseason forecast. That is a rating-based forecast; the full model read, with goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of puck drop.

What is a preseason forecast?

A win probability from each team's regressed preseason rating and home ice, the same ratings behind the 2026-27 projected standings. Those ratings are calibrated at the season level, for standings and playoff odds; this single-game percentage is a plain rating formula and has not been graded on its own yet. It is deliberately unsure about any single game, and the confidence grade says how far it leans.

When does the real prediction publish?

Inside the seven-day window before the game. The model re-scores it on every refresh until puck drop, with the confirmed starting goalies, and this page shows that read instead of the forecast.

Carolina Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins, Tue, Dec 29: prediction and odds forecast

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2026-27 forecast · Tue, Dec 29, 7:00 PM ET

Carolina HurricanesCAR

105 proj. pts · 69.3% playoffs

Brandon Bussi · 0.895 SV%

Cvs7:00 PM ET

Pittsburgh PenguinsPIT

A preseason forecast from each team's regressed rating and home ice, the ratings behind the projected standings. The full model read, with the starting goalies, rest and form, publishes within seven days of the game and replaces this page’s numbers. How the model works

The read

Preseason ratings · last season’s record

CAR controlled play at 5v5 last season, 56.5% of the expected goals to 50.9%; CAR's power play ran at 23.4% against a PIT kill at 81.9%.

In goal, neither team has named a starter. Last season Brandon Bussi (CAR) saved -14.9 goals above expected to Arturs Silovs's -23.2, on save percentages of 0.895 and 0.888.

None of that is the model read. This is a rating-and-home-ice forecast; the full prediction — confirmed goalies, rest and form, priced against the market — publishes inside the seven days before puck drop and replaces these numbers. Carolina Hurricanes over Pittsburgh Penguins is where it starts, not where it ends.

In goal

goalie board

No starter is named this far out. These are each side’s projected starters on the current roster, with last season’s numbers.

CAR

Brandon Bussi

SV%: 0.895
GSAx: -14.9
GAA: 2.47
Record: 31-6-2

39 games, 2025-26

PIT

Arturs Silovs

SV%: 0.888
GSAx: -23.2
GAA: 3.07
Record: 19-12-8

39 games, 2025-26

CAR	Metric	PIT
56.5%	xGF% (5v5)	50.9%
57.3%	Shot share	51.1%
3.5	Goals for / game	3.4
2.7	Goals against / game	3.1
23.4%	Power play	23.5%
82.7%	Penalty kill	81.9%
49.8%	Faceoffs	48.1%

Who drives it

2026-27 projected points

Carolina Hurricanes

Player	Pos	G	A	Pts
Sebastian Aho	C	29	47	76
Seth Jarvis	R	33	38	71
Andrei Svechnikov	R	26	37	63
Nikolaj Ehlers	L	22	36	58

Pittsburgh Penguins

Player	Pos	G	A	Pts
Sidney Crosby	C	29	47	76

Last season, head to head

ledger

Date	Game	Pick	Score	Result
2026-03-22	CAR @ PIT	CAR	CAR 5–1 PIT	Correct
2026-03-18	PIT @ CAR	CAR	PIT 5–6 CAR	Correct
2026-03-10	PIT @ CAR	CAR	PIT 5–6 CAR	Correct
2025-12-30	CAR @ PIT	CAR	CAR 1–5 PIT	Missed

Season outlook

projected standings

Team	Proj. points	Playoff odds
Carolina Hurricanes	105	69.3%
Pittsburgh Penguins	97	50.9%