Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction, NHL Odds
The Penguins are priced at -118 on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.
Canadiens vs. Penguins NHL Betting Odds
After a fairly quiet Wednesday around the NHL, most of the teams are in action Thursday. This is the first game of the season between the Canadiens and Penguins, which means Montreal’s first look at the legendary Sidney Crosby, who will also captain Team Canada again at the upcoming Olympics in Italy – if the hockey arena is done in time, that is. Way behind schedule.
While Crosby is expected to play at least one more season after this one, fellow legend and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin is likely in his last campaign at age 39. The Habs will not see the Russian as he was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with an upper-body injury. Malkin, who has eight goals and 21 assists in 26 games, is week-to-week.
Because the Habs and Penguins finish their three-game season series by Dec. 21, it’s possible Malkin never faces Montreal again short of an unlikely playoff matchup. Pittsburgh has swept the past two season series. Malkin had a goal and two assists in the three games last year, while Crosby had two goals and three helpers. Tristan Jarry allowed five goals on 51 total shots in winning both his starts in net. Nick Suzuki (1G, 2A) and Emil Heineman (1G, 2A; now with Islanders) led Montreal with three points each. Sam Montembeault took the loss in all three with a 4.75 GAA and .833 SV.
The over is 8-4 in the past 12 meetings.
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal has played some bad games this season but few worse than Tuesday’s 6-1 home loss to Tampa Bay considering the Lightning had lost four straight, were in the second of a back-to-back and started backup Jonas Johansson in net for the second time in 24 hours. He dominated, and the Lightning jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back. Jakub Dobes allowed three goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Sam Montembeault to start the second period.
Montembeault, making his first appearance since Dec. 2, surrendered three goals on 12 shots. The Habs have a goalie problem right now, but it’s probably Montembeault on Thursday. Oliver Kapenen had the lone goal Tuesday, his ninth of the year. Nick Suzuki had one of the assists to reach 25 on the year, becoming the first Canadiens player to reach 25 assists in fewer than 30 games since Saku Koivu in 1996-97. Cole Caufield’s 11-game point streak came to an end, however. Montreal is 0-7 in its past seven vs. Metropolitan Division foes.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh lost its second straight game via shootout on Tuesday, 4-3 at home to Anaheim. Crushing loss simply as the Ducks scored the tying goal shorthanded with 0.1 second left in regulation, deflecting off the glove of Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson. The Pens also were on the power play to start OT but couldn’t score. It was the team’s fifth loss in the shootout this season and seventh loss beyond regulation. Karlsson did have two assists. Sidney Crosby had a helper for his 1,717th career point, moving him within five of Mario Lemieux’s franchise record. Former Vancouver Canuck Arturs Silovs was the starting goalie Tuesday but it should be back to Tristan Jarry for this one. He took a tough-luck loss Sunday vs. Dallas in a shootout and is 4-0-1 with a 2.47 GAA and a .915 SV over his past six. But Jarry has been better away this year (2.33 GAA) than at home (3.09 GAA) despite being 3-0-0 in Pittsburgh. The over is 4-2 in the Penguins’ past six.
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