Division Rivals Have Second Meeting in 11 days
The Montreal Canadiens play the third of a six-game Christmas wraparound road trip Wednesday night, visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay is a heavy favorite, with the better team having whipped the Habs convincingly earlier this month in Montreal.
We will review the stats, trends, scores and odds to prepare you ahead of the 7 p.m. ET puck drop here.
Check the latest NHL odds, stats, injury reports, and NHL lines for Canadiens vs Lightning. We’ve plenty of NHL betting odds to consider.
Canadiens Slumping to Mediocrity
The Montreal Canadiens are 15-16-3, seventh in the Atlantic Division. They’ve lost four of the last five. As far as totals are concerned, one of the games hit the over, with two others having ended in a push in goals at six. Four games had at least a 1½-goal spread.
The under is 2-0-2 in the Canadiens’ last four, and 4-1-2 in the previous seven against Atlantic Division competition. Notably, Montreal is 1-10 in the last 11 games at Tampa Bay, while the favorite is 21-5 in the last 26 meetings. These don’t favor the Canadiens Wednesday night.
Montreal is averaging 2.7 goals per game, 28th in the NHL while surrendering 3½ goals per game (25th in the league). The Canadiens’ special teams aren’t anything special, the lowest-ranked powerplay in the league at 14.2%. The “kill rate” is operating at 77.2% efficiency. Nick Suzuki leads with 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists), while Cole Caufield is the goal leader with 19,
Jake Allen (9-13-1, 3.26 goals-against average, .900 save percentage) has started the last two games. Montreal has a pretty solid tandem in net. With the holiday break, we aren’t sure if Allen gets a third straight start in goal, or if Montreal uses its regular goaltending rotation and starts Sam Montembeault (6-3-2, 2.89 GAA, .912 SV%).
Lightning Stumbled Before Christmas
The Tampa Bay Lightning enter Wednesday’s contest at 20-11-1, third in the Atlantic Division. They lost their last two games before the break. Looking at the totals, the last five games saw Tampa hit the over of 6 or 6½ twice, one game ending in a (six-goal) push. All five games did finish with a at least a 1½-goal spread. The under is 3-1-1 in the last five Lightning games versus the Atlantic.
Tampa Bay is averaging 3.6 goals per game, fourth in the NHL, and is led by Nikita Kucherov with 49 points (13 goals, 36 assists). Tampa surrenders three goals per game (14th in league).
Both the power play (26.3%) and the penalty-killers (80.8%) are rated ninth in the NHL.
Brian Elliot (7-2-0, 3.31 GAA, .894 SV%) started the Lightning’s last game against the Detroit Red Wings December 21st (the schedule Dec. 23rd game at Buffalo was postponed [weather]), so the extended holiday break became a bit longer). Expect Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-9-1, 2.53 GAA, .917 SV%) to get his second start of the season against the Canadiens.
Canadiens vs Lightning Game Injuries
Canadiens vs Lightning Head-to-Head
Wednesday’s will be the second of four games between the division rivals. The Lightning won the first game, 5-1, Dec. 17th, in Canada. Brandon Hagel scored twice, while Andrei Vasilevsky stopped 22-of-23 shots.
Nick Paul, Anthony Cirelli, and Nikita Kucherov also had Tampa goals, while Nick Suzuki scored the Canadiens’ only goal. Jake Allen made 22 saves in the losing effort.
Canadiens vs Lightning Game Information
- Game: Canadiens (15-16-3) vs Lightning (20-11-1)
- Day/Time: Wednesday, Dec. 28th, 7:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
- Canadiens vs Lightning Live stream: NHL.TV
Canadiens vs Lightning Betting Lines
Canadiens vs Lightning Picks and Prediction
The Tampa Bay Lightning are heavy favorites entering this game, priced at -375
Considering the betting trends and records, take the favored Lightning to win. Our second pick is to take the under here, especially at 6½ goals,.
The Montreal Canadiens are listed at +315 in our Vegas NHL Lines. This means that if you wager $100 on the Canadiens, a chance to win $315. The Tampa Bay Lightning is -375, with a chance to win $26.67 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Canadiens a 24.1% chance to win, with the Lightning at 78.95%.
