Florida Panthers vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
The Montreal Canadiens are balling, the Florida Panthers are falling, ahead of this Atlantic Division matchup on Thursday night.
The Panthers have lost three of their past four games, sliding down to fifth place in the division, while the Habs are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games, climbing into second place.
Montreal is playing the second half of a back-to-back at home on Thursday, pushing the NHL odds to favour the Panthers at -145 on the moneyline. The total is set at six goals, with puck drop from the Bell Centre set for 7 p.m. EST.
Panthers vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
The Canadiens are undefeated against the Panthers over the past two seasons after taking the win in the season series opener in an overtime thriller just over a week ago. The Habs swept the Cup champs in last year’s series, giving them six straight victories over the Cats. In those past six meetings, the OVER has hit only once, and the Canadiens have covered the spread as the underdog in each game.
As reigning back-to-back Cup champs, the Panthers have found themselves as the favourite in most of their matchups. With a slow start to the season, Florida has been struggling to cover the spread, posting a 15-27 record ATS. Their offence has been struggling over their past four outings, scoring just 1.5 goals per game, leading them to a 1-2-1 record.
Montreal’s offence has been in and out of the top five all season, but has never fallen out of the top 10. They are currently averaging 3.33 goals per game on the season, tying them for sixth in the league. They have hit the OVER in 26 of their 43 games this season, putting them amongst the league leaders in high-scoring games. Their past 10 games have seen them cover the spread nine times, while playing the OVER/UNDER 5-5.
Florida Panthers
After getting back into the win column, with a big win 2-1 over a powerhouse in the Colorado Avalanche, the Panthers opened a six-game road trip in Toronto on Tuesday. The Maple Leafs scored in the last minute of the first period and the first minute of the second, taking all the momentum in the game, on their way to a 4-1 win.
Carter Verhaeghe scored his 12th of the season as the lone goal scorer for the Panthers in the loss. Florida outshot the Leafs 32-23 in the contest, but Toronto had the hotter of the two goalies. Sergei Bobrovsky’s .864 save percentage on Tuesday marked the sixth straight contest where the Russian had a sub-900 save percentage in a game.
With over half of the regular season in the books, the Panthers are still outside the playoff picture, trailing the final wildcard spot by two points. Their cup pedigree has the NHL futures board still heavily favouring them to make the postseason, listing them at -240 to get in.
Montreal Canadiens
The Habs followed up a successful seven-game road trip with a dominant 4-1 win on Wednesday night at home over the Calgary Flames. After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Habs rattled off three consecutive goals in the second period and took a 3-1 lead into the third. Montreal added another goal in the third and shut down the Flames the rest of the way for a 4-1 win.
Alexandre Texier (fourth) opened the scoring, kicking off his first career three-point game. Lane Hutson (eighth), Oliver Kapanen (14th) and Cole Caufield (21st) were the other Canadiens goal-scorers, pushing their home record to 11-9-1.
Texier has been a great addition to Montreal since they signed him back in late November. His speed, skill and work ethic have earned trust from head coach Martin St. Louis and gotten him onto the Habs number one line with Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki. The France native has 11 points (4G, 7A) in 21 games with the team, which includes five points in four games since flipping the calendar to 2026.
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