Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers Prediction, NHL Odds
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Edgar Chaput
The snowbird effect is a real thing. Watch any Canadiens match when the club visits the Panthers and take note of how loud of cheers are when the visitors score. Perhaps that will serve as some momentum as Montreal comes off a hard-fought 4-2 victory over the Coyotes on Tuesday. The Panthers were also in action on the same night. They tussled with the visiting Sabres in a close one, a 3-2 win.
Check the NHL odds as they develop.
Canadiens vs. Panthers NHL Betting Odds
The recent history of Canadiens vs. Panthers matches is a curious one. Montreal supporters like to know that their side pounded Florida into oblivion 10-2 late in the 2022 campaign, but that was a largely meaningless contest. It’s also the Canadiens’ lone victory over their Floridian rivals in 10 tries. What’s more, the Panthers have manhandled the Habs with relative ease in the other nine games (7-2, 9-5, 6-2, 7-4, etc). In a nutshell, Montreal-Florida meetings go bonkers and usually in favour of the American side.
Montreal can’t be counted on for much this season except where it matters for betters: the puckline. The Canadiens are a resplendent 37-22 ATS. Don’t worry about the fact that they only have 54 points and might finish last in the Atlantic Division. They’ve covered four of their last five opportunities despite earning only a single outright win. Montreal is also ever so slightly better away from the Bell Centre with an 11-12-5 tally.
Florida is a completely different story. One can argue an overlooked one. The Oilers, Maple Leafs, Avalanche, and the Rangers are the popular teams to discuss, but the Panthers could be the best team in the league. However, they are not very good ATS, posting only a 29-30 record. Florida had a nice run of five successes earlier in February but has since failed to cover three of its last four pucklines. Oddly, the only time they did was in a one-goal defeat. Carter Verhaeghe is listed as day-to-day.
Montreal Canadiens
It’s getting close to calling it a day on the 2023-2024 Montreal Canadiens. Late February feels a little early to do so, but it’s not looking good and Tuesday at home to the Arizona Coyotes offered mixed results.
To be clear, Montreal won the match 4-2 and earned itself two points. Samuel Montembeault played a fabulous game, shielding his net from 36 of the 38 shots it faced. Lastly, the Canadiens’ first three goals were courtesy of some fine individual efforts on breakaways or semi-breakaways (Joel Armia’s 10th, Jordan Harris’ second, Tanner Pearson’s fifth). But the team didn’t play very well and, frankly, the Coyotes looked like the hungrier team all night long, outshooting the Habs 38-21. It looked a lot like the old Carey Price days when he played out of his mind and the club crawled its way to a dubious victory.
Florida Panthers
We didn’t have the most glowing review of Montreal’s win on Tuesday night, but some of the same could be said of Florida’s narrow 3-2 contest against Buffalo.
On paper, this was a walk in the park for the Panthers but they struggled to put the visitors away. Buffalo even opened the scoring in the first period, prompting the hosts to get down to business with greater urgency. Sam Bennett (14th) tied the score at 1-1 before Matthew Tkachuk (21st) announced his return from injury on the power play later in the first period. It would remain 2-1 until midway through the final period when Brandon Montour ripped a shot on the power play as well for a 3-1 lead. There were tense moments late, but Florida held on for the win.
G Sergei Bobrovsky earned his 29th win of the season, placing third in the NHL in that category.
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