Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Game 5 Prediction, NHL Odds
The Canadiens squandered an early 2-0 lead and home-ice advantage in the series with Sunday’s defeat at Bell Centre, but have avoided losing consecutive games in 20 overall outings since mid-March. The Lightning needed a pair of third-period goals to seal the victory on Sunday, but while they regained home-ice advantage, they have tallied consecutive victories just once while losing six of their past 10 overall.
The Lightning return home leading the way as -170 favourites on the Game 5 odds, and have rebounded to -180 chalk on the NHL series despite not yet claiming a lead so far in the series. The Canadiens trail as +140 underdogs on Wednesday’s NHL playoff odds and have tumbled to a +150 wager to win the series after briefly emerging as betting chalk ahead of Game 4. The total for Game 5 is pegged at 5.5.
Canadiens vs. Lightning NHL Betting Odds
For the fourth time in as many matchups in this series, and for the sixth time in seven head-to-head clashes since Christmas, matters were settled by just a single goal on Sunday night. And that trend extends beyond dates between these clubs, with Montreal seeing eight of their past 12 games and seven of Tampa Bay’s past eight contests getting settled by a single goal. That trend certainly adds value to the Canadiens’ -175 odds of covering on the NHL puckline. Despite the need for heroics to keep pace with the Canadiens, the Lightning remain strong +350 second favourites on the odds to win the East, well ahead of the Canadiens at +850. Tampa Bay also trails only Colorado and Carolina as a +750 bet on the Stanley Cup odds while the Habs lag at +1900.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens once again received from key contributions from their role players in Game 4. Zack Bolduc potted his first goal and third point of the series to open the scoring, with Alexandre Texier tallying his second helper on the marker. Cole Caufield also snapped out of a five-game scoring funk with a power play goal but has failed to score at even strength in eight games. Both Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki have compiled four points to lead the squad, but Suzuki has yet to bulge the twine. In addition, Juraj Slafkovsky has yet to follow up on his impressive three-goal performance in Game 1, Ivan Demidov has been limited to just a single assist and no points at even strength. Indeed, the Habs have mustered just six total goals at even strength so far in the series, and have been blanked in the third period in three of the first four games.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Goals have also come at a premium for the Lightning as of late, with the club scoring more than three goals just once in their past 11 outings and averaging just 2.18 goals per game over that stretch. One notable exception has been Brandon Hagel, who has emerged as Tampa Bay’s MVP while scoring six of the Bolts’ 11 total goals in the series including apair of third-period markers that sealed the club’s Game 4 victory. Both Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov have put their playmaking skills on display with six and five assists, respectively. However, Kucherov, Braydon Point, and Anthony Cirelli have combined to score just total goals in the series after racking up a combined 85 goals during the regular season. Expect another contest decided with a late goal on Wednesday.
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