NHL
Sports Interaction Staff
October 24, 2017

Florida Panthers vs. Montreal Canadiens: NHL Odds, Prediction

Bettors who have put their faith in Montreal are seething – and so are Canadiens fans, who won’t hesitate to voice their frustrations if their team gets off to a slow start Tuesday against Florida. The Habs return home on a seven-game losing streak following a nightmarish three-game West Coast swing in which they were outscored 16-5. They’ll look to turn things around against a Panthers team that ended a three-game skid with a 4-1 win over Washington.

Panthers vs. Canadiens

Moneyline: Canadiens -130

Date: Tuesday, October 24, 7:30 p.m. ET

Bell Centre, Montreal, Que.

NHL Odds and Betting Analysis

It’s hard to trust the Canadiens as a favourite given how they’ve performed so far, but there’s a caveat; Montreal has played six of its first eight games on the road, and should fare better with nine of their next 13 games at the Bell Centre. That starts with the opener of a three-game homestand, during which the Canadiens will look to improve on an ugly 0-8 puckline record. Montreal has won nine of its last 13 games against Atlantic Division opponents.

Bettors are nearly split on this one as of Monday night, with 53 percent of Sports Interaction participants taking the home team on the NHL odds board. The over/under of 5.5 has drawn a 63 percent majority on the over, which is understandable given both teams’ season-long trends. The Panthers have played to the over in six of seven games this season, while the Canadiens have been nearly as strong an over play, going 5-2-1 over/under through eight games.

Florida Panthers

You won’t find many teams more balanced offensively than the Panthers, who have nine players sitting with between five and seven points going into Tuesday’s encounter with Montreal. But goal prevention has been an issue early on, with the Panthers allowing roughly 3.6 goals per game – ranking then 25th out of 31 teams. Florida allowed four or more goals in each of its first three home games before surrendering just one tally in Washington on Saturday.

Montreal Canadiens

When you rank bottom-four in scoring and goal prevention, you have a lot to fix. But much of the focus is on the offense, which has produced just 13 goals through the first eight games. And low-scoring efforts have snowballed for Montreal, which has lost eight consecutive games after scoring two or fewer goals in their previous contest. The Canadiens’ power-play unit is succeeding at a miserable 9.4-percent clip, 28th-best in the league.