St. Louis Blues vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
Still looking for his first career win as an NHL head coach, Martin St. Louis will be back behind the bench when the Montreal Canadiens host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night. The Habs fell 5-3 to Buffalo on Sunday, while St. Louis downed Ottawa 5-2 on Tuesday.
The Blues are heavy -305 favourites to win on the NHL odds, with a total of 6.0.
Blues vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
This concludes the season series between these teams following St. Louis’ 4-1 home win on Dec. 11. It was the first time the Canadiens and Blues met since Montreal beat St. Louis twice in October 2019. The total has gone Under in four of the last six games between these teams.
The Blues have been slightly above average on the road this season, going 10-8-3 outside of St. Louis. They’ve been a decent cover option at 27-20 against the spread overall. The total has gone Over in five of the Blues’ last seven road games.
It’s been a disaster in Montreal this season. The Canadiens have just eight wins on the year and are currently riding a 10-game losing streak, with their last win coming on Jan. 18. They’re a brutal 19-29 ATS overall and have failed to cover in 15 of 23 home games. The total has gone Over in seven of the Habs’ last eight games overall.
St. Louis Blues
St. Louis has been piling pucks into the back of the net, scoring 14 goals over their last three games. Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice against Ottawa, while Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas and Oskar Sundqvist scored once. Ville Husso made 18 saves. Schenn extended his point streak to five games, recording four goals and four assists over that span. Tarasenko leads the team with 44 points and is tied with Jordan Kyrou for the team lead in goals at 18 apiece.
There’s been no word on who will get the start in net against Montreal between Husso and Jordan Binnington. Binnington is the official No. 1 goalie, but he has been outperformed by Husso recently. Husso, who has started St. Louis’ last two games, is 11-3-1 this year, with a 1.85 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. Binnington is 11-10-3 with a 3.35 GAA and .898 SV. Husso has won his last two starts, while Binnington has lost his last three.
Montreal Canadiens
As Montreal’s latest losing skid has now hit double digits, it’s been a full month since their last win. It’s the longest losing streak of the season for the Habs and the first time the franchise has lost 10 consecutive games since 1926. The Canadiens have averaged a monstrous 5.63 goals against over their last eight games. For the season, they sit dead last in both goals against per game (3.98) and goals-for per game (2.19). Nick Suzuki leads the team with just 28 points in 48 games. Suzuki and Josh Anderson are tied for the team lead in goals with nine apiece. Suzuki is goalless in his last four games, while Anderson hasn’t scored in his last five.
Goaltending has probably been the single biggest problem for the Habs this year as Carey Price and Jake Allen are both dealing with significant long-term injuries. Montreal recently traded for Andrew Hammond and sent struggling rookie Cayden Primeau back to the AHL. Until Price and Allen are back, Hammond is expected to back up Sam Montembeault. Hammond had a 6-2-3 record with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this year, posting a 2.44 GAA and .908 SV. In 15 starts and 22 games played with Montreal this year, Montembeault is 2-10-4 with a 3.92 GAA and .894 SV.
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