Bridgestone Arena plays host to an enticing showdown as the Montreal Canadiens come into town to face the Nashville Predators. It’s the last time that the two clubs will go at it in the regular season. The action gets going at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 14, and fans at home are able to view this East-West matchup live on Fox Sports Tennesse.
Montreal Canadiens at Nashville Predators Odds
Nashville (-165) is being picked as the favorite over Montreal (+145). If you want to put some action on the matchup’s Over/Under (O/U) total, you’ll be looking at -110 money on over 6 goals and +-110 on the under under..
The Predators are 33-26 straight-up (SU) and have punished moneyline bettors to the tune of -8.1 units so far. That winning percentage, ranked 2nd in the Central Division in this young season, is a regression from the 53-29 record that the team posted during the 2017-18 season campaign. Through 59 regular season matches, 30 of the team’s games have gone under the total, while 26 have gone over and just three have pushed. This season, the team is 18-12 SU at home.
Nashville has converted on just 13.6 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that places the team in the bottom- overall among NHL teams. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 13th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 81.3 percent of all penalties.
Nashville, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.7 times per game overall this season, and 4.3 per game over its past ten matchups. The team has been forced to stave off opposition power plays for just 7.8 minutes per game over its last five matchups, overall.
With a .914 save percentage and 24.9 saves per game, Pekka Rinne (20-20-4) has been the top goalkeeper for the Predators this year. If the Preds choose to rest him, however, it might turn to Juuse Saros (14-10-10 record, .913 save percentage, 2.59 goals against average).
Ryan Johansen and Roman Josi will both be focal points for the Predators. Johansen (52 points) has tallied 11 goals and 41 assists and has recorded multiple points on 14 separate occasions this year. Josi has 11 goals and 34 assists to his name and has notched at least one point in 33 games.
Montreal has netted 8.1 units for moneyline bettors this season and is currently 31-25 straight up (SU). Through 56 regular season matches, 29 of its games have gone under the total, while 25 have gone over and just two have pushed. As a road team, Montreal is 14-11 SU so far.
Montreal has converted on just 13.6 percent of its power play chances this season, a mark that’s ranked 30th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill unit is ranked 21st overall and it’s successfully killed off 79.3 percent of all opponent power plays.
Montreal’s skaters have been penalized 3.9 times per game this season, and 3.0 per game over their last five match ups. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 7.1 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Carey Price (27.0 saves per game) has been the primary option in the net for Montreal. Price owns a 23-19-5 record, while registering a .915 save percentage and 2.55 goals against average this year.
For the visiting Canadiens, the offense will be heavily coordinated by Max Domi (17 goals, 32 assists) and Jonathan Drouin (17 goals, 29 assists).
Montreal Canadiens at Nashville Predators Betting Picks
NHL Pick: SU Winner – Predators, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- The under has hit in three of Nashville’s last five games.
- This game features two clubs that fire the puck on goal a lot. Montreal has attempted the league’s third-most shots on goal (33.4) while Nashville has attempted the seventh-most (32.7). The Habs have averaged 28.0 shot attempts over their last five road games and the Preds have taken 37.6 shots over their last five home outings.
- The extra-man advantage could play a key role tonight. The Canadiens are 9-9 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 18-16 when they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Predators are 14-11 when the team serves fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 23-18 in games where they’re in the box for less than 10 minutes.
- Montreal is 2-0 in games decided by a shootout this season while Nashville is 1-1 in shootouts.
- Nashville has managed 6.2 takeaways per game over its last five home games, a drop-off from its season average of 7.9 takeaways per game (ranked 14th).
- Montreal is ranked 17th in the league this season with 7.4 takeaways per game. That figure has trended higher, as the team has averaged 9.1 takeaways over its last 10 games and 9.0 takeaways over its last five.
- Montreal might hold the upper hand if this one comes down to the wire. The team’s 15-13 in one-goal games, while Nashville is 12-14 in such games.
