Hurricanes vs. Canadiens NHL Odds, Prediction and Picks: Montreal Seeks Playoff Revenge
The Conference Final rematch will serve as the Canadiens’ home opener. The home crowd will be looking to exorcise their demons from last season, when the Canes beat them four times in a row to take the series in five games.
The NHL Odds have the Canes as the -120 favourites on the road, with the OVER/UNDER set at 6.5 goals. The puck drops at 7:00 pm EST from Centre Bell for the Canadiens’ home opener.
Hurricanes vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
In their eight total matchups last season, they hit the OVER in half of them, while the Canadiens managed to cover the spread in six games. The Canes won the playoff series 4-1, but the Canadiens swept them in their three regular-season meetings.
Carolina got their first win of the season in their last outing, moving them to 1-1-1 on the season. Their offence has been slow to start the year, scoring just five goals in three games, one of which they were blanked in. They have played the OVER/UNDER 1-2 and are 0-3 against the spread so far.
The Habs have scored eight goals in their two games to open the season, hit the OVER once and covered once as well. They have also given up eight goals so far, after allowing the Penguins to score six on them in their matchup over the weekend.
Carolina Hurricanes
Hoping to avoid the dreaded Stanley Cup hangover, the Canes got in the win column over the weekend with a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Opening the season with back-to-back losses at home, Carolina got on the board just 10 seconds into Saturday night’s game, thanks to Sebastian Aho. The Flyers would answer with a pair of goals to take the lead, before Aho would notch his second of the game, third of the season, to set them up for overtime. Defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere ended the game in the extra frame with his first of the season to give the Hurricanes their first win of the campaign.
With the offseason departure of goalie Frederik Andersen, Carolina will be relying on a rotation of Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov for the season. Kochetkov won in his season debut on Saturday, facing only 18 shots, while Bussi is 0-1-1, giving up six in two games.
The NHL Futures Board has the Canes listed as the third favourite for the Stanley Cup this year, paying out +750. They are +220 to win the Metropolitan Division and +400 to win the Eastern Conference.
Montreal Canadiens
After a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night, the Canadiens got an early wake-up call in Pittsburgh on Saturday Night. Cole Caufield’s first of the season opened the scoring in the first, before the Penguins went on to score five straight before the end of the second period. Captain Nick Suzuki’s first of the season got them to 5-2 headed into the third to set them up for a comeback attempt in the third. Caufield scored another early in the third before Chris Kreider and Ivan Demidov would both score in the final minute and eight seconds to send the game to overtime. The exciting comeback was put to bed in overtime though, as the Penguins would score 1:33 into the period to secure a victory.
Caufield’s pair of goals put him in the team lead through two games; he finished with 51 last season, which was good enough for second most in the league. The sniper is chasing his first Rocket Richard Trophy and is paying out +550 to bring it home this season.
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