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NHL Saturday odds & picks: Carey Price keeps Habs afloat

  • Frank Doyle's Author profile. Frank Doyle

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The Montreal Canadiens head into Saturday’s matchup with the upstart San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre sporting a 6-4 record. Without goaltender Carey Price, there’s a good chance they’d be hanging around with the Sabres and Panthers at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

Price sports a 2.13 goals against average and a .936 save percentage, despite being left out to dry far too many times by his defence. The Canadiens have a ton of speed and skill, but are giving up 32.4 shots per game. They haven’t allowed fewer than 30 shots in any of their last six games and that trend isn’t likely to stop Saturday against the Sharks. While San Jose leads the league averaging 38.8 shots and four goals per game, this club can play a tight-checking game when needed too.

San Jose took a 2-1 loss at Boston on Thursday but likely deserved better. The Sharks outshot the Bruins 39-17 but took the loss when David Krejci scored in the last second of the third period.

Montreal, on the other hand, is a little all over the place. Missing Max Pacioretty, Brandon Prust, Doug Murray, Alexei Emelin and Danny Briere has forced the Canadiens to shove their young players into the spotlight. For the most part, they’re handling it well. Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk are having great sophomore seasons and PK Subban is just building off last year’s Norris Trophy.

That said, San Jose’s size and speed will be a problem for the small but speedy Habs. It’s always tough to bet against the Canadiens when they’re at home – especially on a Saturday night – but this is a mismatch and Carey Price can only do so much. San Jose will capitalize on Montreal’s errors and get back to its winning ways.

Pick: San Jose Sharks

Winnipeg Jets at Dallas Stars

This is an interesting battle between a pair of teams who are still trying to find their groove. Winnipeg has lost three straight, allowing 11 goals over that span, while Dallas ranks 29th in shots allowed (35.1 per game) and has lost four of its last six. If you’re for a Saturday night barn burner, this might be your best bet. Keep your eye on Tyler Seguin for the Stars and Evander Kane for the Jets. They’re both about to bust out.

Pick: Over 5.5

St. Louis Blues at Nashville Predators

The Blues are just coming off a long layoff to play back-to-back nights, but this will be Nashville’s fifth game since Oct. 18. St. Louis should be fine to play two in a row with this being just their second game in more than a week. They’ll bang Nashville around to earn a win on the road.

Pick: St. Louis Blues

Last week’s picks: 2-1

Season record to date: 4-2