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Edgar Chaput
Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers Prediction, NHL Odds
Mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Montreal is playing out its season, seeing what it can build for next year. The latest setback was at home on Saturday night against arch-rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs, who skipped Dodge with a 4-2 win. The Rangers on the other hand have put themselves in the driver’s seat to win the President’s Trophy with a 4-3 victory over Original 6 rival the Detroit Red Wings back on Friday.
The NHL odds believe the Rangers will conclude their weekend on a positive note, placing them as -375 moneyline favourites.
Canadiens vs. Rangers NHL Betting Odds
Sunday night concludes the season series between these old foes and, surprisingly, it’s tied 1-1 so far. Montreal won a narrow match at home, but the Rangers obliterated the Habs 7-4 at Madison Square Garden.
The Canadiens and their fans find themselves in pretty much the same position as a year ago. A rather poor showing for the overall campaign with a handful of games to go to restore some sense of pride more than anything else. Still, betters can reap some rewards in knowing that Les Habitants have been quite good against the puckline with a 48-28 record. It’s been a rough week however,, as they’ve only covered the spread once in their past four contests. Both defenceman Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj are listed as day-to-day.
New York is heading for the regular season finish line looking mighty fine. Winners of seven of eight, they’ve also accomplished the same feat ATS. That should give betters some encouragement despite that the club is only 36-41 overall. Peter Laviolette’s first year behind the bench in Manhattan is going about as good as anyone could have hoped. They have a nice five-point cushion over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division and could be the best team in the NHL when all is said and done.
Montreal Canadiens
It’s very easy to get excited about Maple Leafs-Canadiens games. That said, the reality of the situation on Saturday night is that Montreal is nowhere near as good as Toronto.
The 4-2 defeat belied how the contest played out. To be fair to the Habs, the opening stanza concluded 0-0, suggesting that perhaps the hosts could surprise with an upset. However, the outcome was decided in a five-minute span in the second period when the Leafs erupted for four goals. Tip-ins, deflections off defenders, bad rebounding, etc. As good as G Samuel Montembeault has been this season, resistance was futile on Saturday as he was pulled at 4-0.
Nick Suzuki gave the fans something to cheer about with his 33rd on the power play and Cole Caufield netted his 23rd just before the middle period ended, but that was all she wrote for Montreal.
New York Rangers
After the all-out war versus the New Jersey Devils in midweek, New York visited the Red Wings on Friday, who were desperate to stay in the playoff race.
It was a back-and-forth affair in Michigan, but as they have demonstrated time and again this season, the Rangers are well-equipped to handle all sorts of sticky situations. Will Cuylle (13th) did the honours in the first period off a nice shot that probably should have been saved but wasn’t. From there the sides traded blows, with Detroit levelling the terms before Barlcay Goodrow (third) helped the visitors reclaim the lead.
Goodrow earned a brace in the second period when the Rangers trailed 3-2, and Chris Kreider notched his 37th with a power play goal in the final frame. The Red Wings pressed like mad late but New York held on to win 4-3.
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