Scoreboard	1	2	3	Odds
Washington Capitals 35-37-6-4	1	0	1	+6.5
Montreal Canadiens 31-45-4-2	0	4	2	-160

Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds

Sunday’s defeat at home to the New York Rangers spelled the end of the road for Washington. They were an iffy side to trust all season long and finally paid the price for their inconsistency. Perhaps a trip to the Bell Centre will be a “pick me up” game, as Montreal has been shut out twice in a row at home.

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Capitals vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds

Thursday night will be the third and final time Washington and Montreal cross sticks this season, especially since neither will make the playoffs. The first two contests were in D.C., with the Capitals winning each. The second was only hours before the clock struck midnight on 2022 and one Habs fans would love to forget: 9-2 for the Caps.

Things were looking pretty bad heading into the Rangers contest. Washington had fallen in six of their previous seven games. Their only win had been against the flailing Chicago Blackhawks and among the defeats was a depressing performance against the Blue Jackets. The over has connected in six of their eight most recent games. One detail they have going for them is an excellent penalty-killing unit: 82.5 percent, good for fifth in the NHL.

Montreal would probably enjoy scoring some goals Thursday night. As alluded to, their home stand has gotten off to a rotten start, with three straight defeats to the Panthers, Hurricanes, and Red Wings, the latter two by scores of 3-0 and 5-0. Martin St. Louis’ squad has suffered defeat in four consecutive games and only scored four goals in total over that frame.

Washington Capitals

The game against the Rangers at home last Sunday was an example of a better club putting a much worse club out of its misery quickly, although probably not painlessly.

New York was fine-tuning its squad for the playoffs, whereas the Capitals strove to keep their dimming hopes alive. It didn’t take long for reality to set in. Slopply goaltending and sloppy defending allowed K’Andre Miller to pounce on a juicy rebound to open the scoring. Alexis Lafrenière padded to the lead to 2-0 off slick backhand shot that beat Darcy Kuemper cleanly. From that point on the air was mostly out of the building and of the host side. The Capitals finally got on the board in the middle frame when it was 3-0 New York through a strange Dylan Strome goal (19^th) that caught Igor Shesterkin napping, but the great comeback never happened. The Rangers left the building 5-2 winners, and the Capitals were left in the dust.

Montreal Canadiens

It’s tough to play three home games and only score two goals in total, but that’s what fans of the beloved Tricolore are dealing with.

The Red Wings are in the hunt for a postseason birth although their odds are fading by the day. Furthermore, goaltender Ville Husso was returning to action after missing a few weeks due to a lower body injury. One would think the Habs could pounce on the opportunity to play spoiler, but the complete opposite happened. Lucas Raymond (17^th) set the tone less than five minutes in against the run of play with a wicked wrister that beat Cayden Primeau under the bar. David Perron got fans of the Quebecois happy by doubling the lead shortly thereafter. From there Detroit easily weathered whatever storm the Canadiens tried to muster. The shots were only 24-21 for Montreal, but few excellent chances were created. By the time Perron earned his second of the game (22nd) in the third period, the outcome had long been decided. Make the final 5-0.