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The Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens meet Saturday in NHL action at the Bell Centre. The Pittsburgh Penguins need a win after losing 7 of their last 9 games. The Montreal Canadiens look for a win after splitting their last 10 games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are averaging 3.57 goals per game and are scoring on 18.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Jake Guentzel leads Pittsburgh with 8 goals, Sidney Crosby has 10 assists, and Rickard Rakell has 48 shots on goal. Defensively, the Pittsburgh Penguins are allowing 3.36 goals per game and are killing 75 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Tristan Jarry has allowed 27 goals on 279 shots faced, and Casey DeSmith has given up 16 goals on 190 shots.
The Montreal Canadiens are averaging 2.93 goals per game and are scoring on 15.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 9 goals, Kirby Dach has 8 assists and Cole Caufield has 54 shots on goal. Defensively, the Montreal Canadiens are allowing 3.14 goals per game and are killing 81.6 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jake Allen has given up 28 goals on 302 shots faced, and Sam Montembeault has allowed 12 goals on 171 shots.
The Penguins are 5-16 in their last 21 road games and 0-4 in their last 4 games playing on 0 days rest. The Canadiens are 17-35 in their last 52 home games and 30-71 in their last 101 overall. The over is 15-6 in Penguins last 21 overall. The over is 4-1 in Canadiens last 5 home games. The home team is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings. The underdog is 10-4 in the last 14 meetings.
The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been good this season, and they’re on the end of a back to back, but they’re coming off a couple of nice wins, and they’re still the better team on paper here. The Montreal Canadiens continue to run hot and cold, and playing at home hasn’t helped them much, dating back to last season. Give me the Penguins and the PL for max betting value.