Montreal Canadiens vs. Minnesota Wild Prediction, NHL Odds
Monday night hockey in Minnesota features the Wild hosting the Montreal Canadiens.
Two of the league’s best defencemen, Montreal’s Lane Hutson and the Wild’s Quinn Hughes, go head-to-head, and since being snubbed from the Olympic roster, Hutson will look to send a message to the Wild’s General Manager.
The NHL Odds have the Wild listed as the -140 favourite at home. The OVER/UNDER is set at 6.5 goals, with puck drop from Grand Casino Arena set for 7:30 pm EST.
Canadiens vs. Wild NHL Betting Odds
This will be the second and final meeting of the season between these teams, after a thrilling 4-3 Canadiens win in the opener just two weeks ago. Cole Caufield scored with only 15 seconds left in regulation to give the Habs a big victory.
That Habs win snapped a streak of nine straight losses to the Wild, their first win over Minnesota since 2019. The season series opener played the OVER, putting the OVER/UNDER at 5-5 over their past 10 meetings.
Montreal has covered the spread in each game of its current three-game win streak, boosting its record ATS to 31-23. Since turning the starting job over to Jakub Dobes over the past three games, the team has tightened up defensively, allowing just seven goals in that stretch. They have climbed back into the top five in scoring, averaging 3.44 goals per game this season.
Minnesota has been in high-scoring games lately, playing the OVER in nine of its last 10 games. The offence is absolutely on fire at the moment, scoring four or more in six of their past eight games, including seven their last time out. They now have a 30-22-3 record on the OVER/UNDER this season.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens collected a much-needed two points on Saturday night, beating the Buffalo Sabres, to overtake them for third place in the Atlantic Division and extending their win streak to three-games.
Montreal took a 1-0 lead into the second period after a power-play goal from Juraj Slafkosky (21st), but the Sabres took over in the second, scoring a pair to take a 2-1 lead into the final period. Cole Caufield, the league’s hottest goal scorer, scored back-to-back goals in the third to get the Habs back in front to complete the comeback.
Caufield has been on an insane run over the past two-weeks, scoring 11 goals in eight games. He’s up to 32 on the season, just five back of his career high set last season. With just two games before the Olympics, expect extra motivation from him, considering he was snubbed from the roster.
Jakub Dobes kept his perfect month intact with 36 saves in the game versus Buffalo. He is 6-0 in January, with a 2.07 goals against average and a .893 save percentage.
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota’s offence exploded for seven goals on Saturday night in Edmonton, extending their win streak to three and their point streak to five-games with a 7-3 win over the Oilers. The game was run and gun from the drop of the puck, as both teams traded goals in the first, ending the period at 2-2. After that, it was all Minny, as they scored three unanswered in the second and added two more in the third, taking the 7-3 win despite being heavily outshot, 42-29.
Quinn Hughes’s two-point night (1G, 1A) helped him set a Minnesota Wild franchise record as the first defenceman to record a point in eight straight games. His point streak consists of two goals and 11 assists, bringing his point total with the Wild to 29 points (3G, 26A) in 24 games since being dealt two months ago.
Minnesota is still in second place in the Central Division sitting just a point ahead of the Dallas Stars. Even though the Division-leading Colorado Avalanche have been struggling lately, it does not look like anyone has a chance to catch them.
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