Vegas Golden Knights vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
It hasn’t been the greatest of trips for the Golden Knights, who are 1-2 through three contests and most recently are coming off a 7-1 loss at Ottawa on Sunday. Vegas still holds top spot in the Pacific Division with 62 points, with some company now approaching.
Montreal’s slipped down into the top Wild-Card spot in the East amidst a stretch of five losses in eight games. The Habs last played in Boston on Saturday where they blew a third-period lead to Boston and fell in regulation. Tuesday’s Montreal’s second-last home game before the Olympic break.
Puck drop at the Bell Centre goes at 7 p.m. EST with the Golden Knights a slight road favourite at -118 moneyline odds, and the over-under at 6.5 on the NHL odds.
Golden Knights vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
Vegas comes into Montreal having a ton of recent success versus the Canadiens. Five of these teams’ last six matchups played in Montreal have ended in Vegas’ favour, and the Golden Knights are 7-2 overall in their last nine against the Habs. Montreal did get the upper-hand though in these teams only other meeting this season, a 4-1 win back on November 28. Vegas did outshoot 31-19 in the three-goal loss but Sam Montembeault turned away 30 shots.
Vegas comes into Tuesday having five of their last six games overall gone over the total, as well as eight of their last 11 on the road. Four of Montreal’s last five outings have gone over the total, and so have six of the last night Vegas–Montreal meetings. Both clubs rank in the top six in the NHL with over 3.35 goals per game — hence the higher over-under in this bout.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights were on their third road game in four days when they rolled into Ottawa on Sunday, but a 7-1 loss is still as ugly as it gets in the NHL. The loss would’ve been even uglier if not for Rasmus Andersson netting the game’s final goal to get the Golden Knights on the board. The goal was Andersson’s first with Vegas since being acquired via trade earlier this month. Andersson’s played two games with the Golden Knights and logged around 20 minutes a game.
Mark Stone had a 14-game point streak come to an end in Sunday’s loss, his first game in the month of January without a point. Stone has quietly registered 52 points in 35 games this season — his 1.49 points per game is fourth in the NHL. Only Jack Eichel (61) has more points on Vegas this season. Eichel had a point streak of his own end Sunday, concluding at 11 games.
Expect Adin Hill to be in net for Vegas on Tuesday. Hill is 3-2-2 with an .855 save percentage this season; he’s yet to post a save percentage above .900 in a game since returning two weeks ago.
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield just keeps scoring for the Habs despite his Olympic snub. Caufield scored all three goals for Montreal in their 4-3 loss on Saturday and now sits fourth in the NHL with 29 goals on the season. The obvious problem with Saturday’s loss is no other skater scored for Montreal, but that’s been a rare problem this season. Caufield is one of seven Canadiens players with double-digit goals on the season, but the only above 20. Juraj Slafkovsky ranks second on the Habs with 19 goals and has scored six in the month of January. Nick Suzuki leads the team with 59 points and is riding a five-game point streak, registering multiple in four of these games.
Jakub Dobes will get the start for the Canadiens in net. The 24-year-old is 15-5-3 on the season while posting an .887 save percentage. Despite the modest numbers, Dobes has won his last three straight starts.
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