Scoreboard	1	2	3	Odds
Montreal Canadiens 31-45-4-2	0	0	1	+5.5
New York Islanders 42-31-4-5	2	0	0	+189

Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Islanders Prediction, NHL Odds

Edgar Chaput
Last Updated: January 14, 2023

Montreal’s home stand concluded with a promising 4-3 victory over Nashville on Thursday. Conversely, the Isles are desperate to stop a four-game skid and take advantage of their own home stand, the first two contests ending unsuccessfully.

New York is perched as -1.5 favourites on the NHL odds (+114 on the puck line)

Canadiens vs. Islanders NHL Betting Odds

We need to go back over three years ago for the last time a team in this matchup won in front of its fanbase. It happened in November 2019 when the Habs rose to 4-2 victory. Since then, the visitors have felt at ease in four consecutive contests. This weekend’s date is the first of three on the 2022-2023 schedule.

Just before taking the plane, Montreal kept up its habit of covering when winning (they don’t cover when losing). The defeat of the Predators when pinned as +1.5 underdogs improved the ATS tally to 20-22. Their fans hope that the high spirits that come with winning travels with them, as they haven’t been up to snuff ATS in the last five away challenges.

As for Lane Lambert’s New York unit, covering the spread has come a bit easier, what with their 24-19 record overall. That looks promising, but it belies recent struggles in dealing with spreads. New York has only achieved two successful covers in the seven most recent attempts, and only four in the past 10.

Montreal Canadiens

There was some bad, then plenty of good, followed by a little bit of bad near the end, but Martin St. Louis’ side got the job done, handing a 4-3 defeat to the visiting Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

When Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring in the first period for the Preds, and, knowing how trying the season has been for Montreal, one feared it would be more of the same. However, the Tricolore accomplished something they hadn’t in some time: totally dominate a period. Jake Evans (2^nd) netted on a nifty wrister whilst on a two-on-one break, and shortly thereafter Kirby Dach (7^th) gently patted a pass through the back door while the Habs once again buzzed around Nashville’s defence. Montreal was outshooting its foes 19-8 in the process!

Cole Caufield sniped two powerplay one-timers (24^th and 25^th) in the second and third periods. The Predators threatened with a late goal, but it was all for naught.

New York Islanders

If there was ever a moment to play the Montreal Canadiens, it would be now. The major statistical categories reveal that the Islanders are a disappointing 23^rd in goals scored per game and a paltry 27^th on the powerplay. On the flip side, they can thank one of the best netminders in the NHL for keeping them in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Ilya Sorokin is ranked fourth league-wide in GA/A, allowing only 2.29 pucks to get by him per outing. With such skill and consistency surely comes a level of frustration. This past week saw Sorokin play out of his mind against the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild, two Central Division favourites. He stopped all but one of the 25 attempts Dallas sent his way in a 2-1 shootout loss. Two nights later he shielded his net 33 times on 35 tries from the Wild in a 3-1 defeat. New York can’t score these days, netting only once in three straight games and no more than twice in the last four.