Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Game 2 Prediction, NHL Odds
The Montreal Canadiens look to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning when they hit the ice for Game 2 on Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena. The Canadiens stunned the Lightning with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 1 on Sunday night, snapping a six-game road losing streak in NHL playoff action and have now tallied wins in consecutive visits to Tampa Bay for the first time since 2016. With Sunday’s Game 1 defeat, the Lightning have now lost five of their past seven overall, and have gone a dismal 4-13 in 17 playoff games since April 2023, including a brutal 1-8 record on home ice over that stretch.
The Lightning’s recent playoff struggled at home have not dampened them on Tuesday’s Game 2 odds, where they lead the way as -189 favourites on the NHL odds board. The Canadiens trail as +154 underdogs, and the total is pegged at 6. While the Canadiens may have drawn first blood in the series, they trail slightly on the NHL series prices as a -105 bet while Tampa Bay sports -115 odds.
Canadiens vs. Lightning NHL Betting Odds
The Canadiens silenced the naysayers and turned the page on a losing playoff narrative with Sunday’s victory, but still have plenty of work to do to win over oddsmakers, who continue to fade them on the NHL odds. In addition to still trailing the Lightning on the series prices, the Habs remain well off the pace on the odds to win the East as a +650 bet and lag as a lengthy +1500 wager on the Stanley Cup odds. Despite coming up short in Game 1, the Lightning remain behind only Carolina as a +400 wager on the Eastern Conference odds, but have dipped slightly to a +900 Stanley Cup bet.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens received an enormous lift in Game 1 from Juraj Slafkovsky, who powered the club to victory with three power play goals including the game winner in overtime. Slafkovsky is coming off a breakthrough campaign in which he scored 30 goals and added 43 assists, and the Canadiens’ Cup hopes would get a big boost if he can continue to show the form that made his he first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. While Slafkovsky remains a long +8000 bet on the NHL player props to follow up with another hat trick, he is worth backing as a -150 wager to pick up at least one point, and a solid +240 bet to tally at least one point on the power play for the fourth time in his past seven games. Both Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield contributed with a pair of assists each in Game 1, while Jakub Dobes gave the Habs a chance to win by turning aside 20 of 23 shots after surrendering nine total goals over his final two starts of the regular season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning dominated early in Game 1, limiting the Habs to just five shots on goal until late in the second period, but failed to capitalize. Indeed, the Bolts held a lead for less than eight minutes in Game 1, and have managed to pot a goal in the first 20 minutes just once over their past six games, and have scored more than two goals just twice in their past seven outings. Brandon hagel answered the bell in Game 1 with a pair of goals, and has now racked up five markers and three helpers over his past seven home appearances. Nikita Kucherov contributed a pair of assists, but has failed to bulge the twine in 11 straight playoff game appearances.
