Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators Prediction, NHL Odds
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Edgar Chaput
This is the first of a home-and-home series involving the sides, with the return leg on Tuesday in la Belle Province.
The NHL savants view the Senators as -1.5 favourites on the NHL odds (+126 on the puck line). The over-under is calculated to be 6.5.
Canadiens vs. Senators NHL Betting Odds
Heading into Saturday’s tilt, Ottawa carries a string of three-consecutive successes over their Quebec rivals. Two of those games concluded last year’s season series, both of which saw the Senators hit the Habs for six goals. Earlier this season, on Dec. 14, D.J. Smith’s unit handled its business in a close 3-2 win.
Martin St. Louis’ group keeps defying the odds, no pun intended. The squad sits next-to-last in the Eastern Conference, with little hope for what the remainder of the campaign has in store. And yet, they’ve crawled themselves to a game above .500 ATS (25-24). As such, betters can put at least some faith in Montreal.
Ottawa is in a similar situation. They rank hardly any better than Montreal in the standings (only three points more, in fact) yet also have a slightly above .500 record when the puck line is considered at 25-23. Friday night’s win in Toronto put an end to a four-game game run during which they had not covered. The Sens have only played three back-to-back contests this season and they’ve been successful twice so far.
Montreal Canadiens
The Habs have been resting since Thursday night when they fell to Detroit at home, 4-3 in overtime. It’s been an interesting past seven days for le Tricolore. Last Saturday, they welcomed arch-rivals the Maple Leafs to the Bell Centre and, as Montreal is want to do, stormed back from an early deficit to pinch a win. Then came mid-week contests against Boston and Detroit. The Bruins are running away with the East this year, yet Montreal pushed them as hard and for as long they could, losing 4-2.
The Red Wings were a far more beatable opponent and if it weren’t for a couple of remarkable, gobsmacking saves from Ville Husso, the Canadiens would have won. In fact, they’d have snatched victory in the dying seconds, but Husso plunged across his crease to perform a diving save off a one-timer from Mike Hoffman. Another sensational save came in the extra frame, which ultimately permitted the Red Wings to generate a counter-attack with man of the hour Michael Rasmussen. Rafael Harvey-Pinard netted twice for the Habs. He’s been sneakily efficient since being called up, scoring three goals in five games.
Ottawa Senators
Chalk one up to the Ottawa Senators in the battle of Ontario. No one was under any illusions that the Sens were on par with the Maple Leafs this season. Toronto is fighting for home-ice advantage in the first couple of rounds in the playoffs whereas Ottawa wishes it were part of the post-season conversation at all.
None of that mattered with pride on the line. On a rare, curious Friday night clash between the clubs, the Senators looked like the far superior outfit. Nobody predicted a 6-2 final in favour of the much lower-seeded visitors. It was the wrist shot that cut down the Leafs. Thomas Chabot (eighth) sniped a beauty to open the scoring, Drake Batherson (seventh) doubled his side’s lead to 4-2 late in the middle frame, Brady Tkachuk (19th) sent a wicked one past Ilya Samsonov, and Claude Giroux (17th) slick effort was the cherry on a 6-2 sundae.
