New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens: NHL Odds, Prediction

The heat is on in Montreal, where the Canadiens will try to secure just their third win of the season Saturday night against the visiting New York Rangers. Montreal was thoroughly outplayed in Thursday’s 4-0 setback to the Los Angeles Kings – an extension of a terrible offensive start in which the Canadiens have scored one or fewer goals in five of their first 10 games. That includes a 2-0 defeat at Madison Square Garden earlier this month.

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Moneyline: Canadiens -140
Date: Saturday, October 28, 7 p.m. ET
Location: Bell Centre, Montreal, Que.

NHL Odds and Betting Analysis

As bad as the Canadiens have been, they’re still favoured against a Rangers team that has just three wins in its first 11 games. One of the main reasons for this: New York will start Ondrej Pavelec in goal in place of Henrik Lundqvist; Pavelec has a 3.08 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage in three games this season. Montreal has bounced back from blowout losses in recent history, winning eight straight games following a defeat of three or more goals.

From a totals perspective, this one will likely stick at 5.5; the Rangers have six overs and five unders on the season, while Montreal has gone over in six of its 10 games. New York has exceeded the total in four of its last five games against teams with losing records, but Montreal has a strong trend that counteracts this – having gone below the total 15 times with six pushes in its previous 27 encounters with Metropolitan Division opponents.

New York Rangers

While less publicized than that of the Canadiens, the Broadway Blueshirts are dealing with their own goal-scoring crisis. Aside from Mika Zibanejad and his team-leading six goals, no other Rangers player has scored more than three times so far this season. Forward Rick Nash has been the most disappointing forward to date, with just one goal and a minus-5 rating through 11 games. New York has won just six of its last 20 meetings with the Canadiens in Montreal.

Montreal Canadiens

When you rank 31st out of 31 teams in goals per game (1.7) and 30th in goals against (3.8), you’re probably near the bottom of the league standings. But the Canadiens are showing signs of life, outshooting their opponents in three straight games while averaging a whopping 42.7 shots per game over that span. That said, the teams have gone over in just six of their past 31 meetings, and with Montreal’s offence still in tatters, that trend could very well continue.

Rangers vs. Canadiens Prediction

Rangers 3, Canadiens 2