Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals Prediction, NHL Odds
The Canadiens extended their current win streak to two games with Monday’s 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks and have emerged as the hottest team in the Eastern Conference while going 8-2-0 in their past 10 games. The Capitals are also coming off a win over the Canucks with their 2-1 decision on Wednesday night and have now picked up at least a point in each of their past nine home contests.
The Capitals hit the ice as -225 home favourites on the Friday NHL odds and are a short +120 bet on the NHL puckline to claim victory by a multi-goal margin. The Canadiens trail as +185 underdogs and the total is pegged at 6.0.
Canadiens vs. Capitals NHL Betting Odds
The Capitals can sweep their three-game season series with the Canadiens with a win on Friday night. The Caps took the first two games with the Habs this season including a decisive 6-2 victory in Washington on October 31 and have now topped Montreal in three straight meetings and four of five on home ice.
Overall, the Capitals have emerged as the class of the Eastern Conference this season while compiling a 27-10-4 record but have managed to tally consecutive wins just once during their current middling 6-4-2 run.
The Canadiens enter Friday’s action trailing Columbus by just three points in the race for the second wild card, with two games in hand. Winners in 11 of their past 16. Much of their recent success has come on the road, where they are on a 5-2-0 run, and as a result of stingy defensive play that has limited opponents to two or fewer goals four times while going 4-1-0 in their past five away dates.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens have demonstrated character while overcoming early deficits to eke out an overtime win and shootout win over their past two games. Rookie rearguard Lane Hutson turned in another standout performance in Monday’s 5-4 overtime win over Vancouver, scoring once and adding two assists to claim the lead in this season’s rookie scoring race with 30 points in 40 games.
The Habs have also benefited from the emergence of a young stud between the pipes. Rookie netminder Jakub Dobes, who is expected to get the call on Friday, has been outstanding in his NHL debut, stopping 56 of 57 total shots to earn the win in each of his first two starts, including a sensational 4-0 shutout victory in Florida on December 28.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals offence has run hot and cold of late. The club managed to fill the net in last weekend’s 7-4 win over New York, but that marked just the second time the Caps have managed to score more than three goals on home ice since November 29.
All eyes remain focused on Alex Ovechkin, who needs just 22 goals to equal Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record for most career goals. The Great 8 was held off the scoresheet in each of the Capitals’ two games this week. But overall, Ovechkin has averaged a goal per game over his past nine outings and tallied a goal and two assists when the Canadiens visited the US capital on Halloween.
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