Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins Prediction, NHL Odds
We have Original Six hockey on Tuesday, the last day before the NHL’s holiday break, as the Montreal Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins for the first time this season. The B’s are -125 with a total of 5.5 on the NHL odds.
Canadiens vs. Bruins NHL Betting Odds
Most of the league is in action on Tuesday – including a rare weekday matinee with Pittsburgh at Toronto starting at 4:30 p.m. ET — with the NHL then going dark until Saturday for the holidays. Montreal won’t return to the ice until Sunday at Tampa Bay. It was a bit of a break for the team to be on this seven-game trip around the holidays because the guys can return home for a bit before flying down to Tampa.
Tuesday marks the second of four regular-season meetings between the clubs and the Habs back in Beantown on Jan. 24. On Nov. 15 at Bell Centre, Montreal was -150 (total of 5.5) and lost to Boston, 3-2. The Bruins lost star blueliner Charlie McAvoy to injury in the second period, but Jeremy Swayman was excellent in net stopping 26 shots.
The Bruins never trailed and blew it open with a pair of second-period goals. David Pastrnak had two assists to become the third player in Bruins history to have an 11-game points streak against the Canadiens, joining Bobby Orr and Herb Cain. Jake Evans (shorthanded) and Cole Caufield scored for Montreal, which had Sam Montembeault (20 saves) in net. There were a couple of fights as well.
Boston is 8-2 in the past 10 meetings overall, and the over-under is 5-5.
Montreal Canadiens
The Habs started this trip with a 4-3 shootout loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday, a day after beating the Penguins, 4-0, at Bell Centre. Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux’s franchise scoring record and Rickard Rakell had the deciding goal in the shootout Sunday; Rakell also had a goal and assist in regulation. Oliver Kapanen (11th of season), Ivan Demidov (eighth) and Noah Dobson (sixth) scored for the Canadiens, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Dobson tied it at 4:04 of the third. Demidov has 28 points and is neck-and-neck with Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke for the NHL rookie points lead. Phillip Danault was out with an illness but was expected to join the team for Tuesday. It will be rookie Jacob Fowler in net. The Florida native is 2-1-1 with a 2.49 GAA and .915 and comes off his first NHL shutout Saturday vs. Pittsburgh. Montreal has lost nine straight games in Boston.
Boston Bruins
This concludes a five-game homestand for Boston, and it has been a disappointing one with three straight losses after beating Utah to start it. The Bruins were routed on Sunday by Ottawa, 6-2, with backup Joonas Korpisalo in net. The Finn is having a rough year, but it will American Jeremy Swayman here, and he’s 7-3-1 with a 2.23 GAA and .915 SV at home – significantly better splits than on the road. David Pastrnak (14th of season) and Charlie McAvoy (first) had the goals Sunday. Pastrnak scored on the power play for the 129th time and tied Cam Neely for the fifth most in franchise history. It was Pastrnak’s first goal since scoring twice in a Dec. 11 win over the Jets. Forward Viktor Arvidsson (14 points, +1 rating) hasn’t played since that same game due to injury and remains day-to-day. Boston is 10-5 in the past 15 at home.