The Montreal Canadiens will play the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. Let’s take a look at the Canadiens preview, Hurricanes preview, betting matchup, and the Canadiens vs Hurricanes prediction.
Canadiens Preview
The Montreal Canadiens are 24-28-10 this season after they defeated the Predators in overtime by a score of 4-3 in their last game. Montreal trailed 2-0 in the second period, but they were able to come back to force overtime and pick up the win in the extra frame. The Canadiens out shot Nashville by a total of 30-28 and went 0-2 on the power play in the game. Montreal had lost seven of their previous eight games, allowing at least four goals in six of them. The Canadiens are scoring 2.79 goals per game and they are allowing 3.48 goals against per game, while going 19.1% on the power play and 74.4% on the penalty kill. Nick Suzuki has led Montreal with 25 goals, 36 assists, and 145 shots on goal. The projected starting goalie for Montreal is Sam Montembeault, who is 13-10-5 this year with a 3.15 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
Hurricanes Preview
The Carolina Hurricanes are 36-19-6 this year after they lost to Winnipeg by a score of 5-3 in their last game. Carolina led 3-0 in the third period, but they allowed five unanswered goals in the third for the loss. The Hurricanes out shot Winnipeg by a total of 35-32 and went 1-4 on the power play in the game. Carolina defeated the Blue Jackets by a score of 4-2 and the Wild by a score of 3-2 in the two games prior to Winnipeg. The Hurricanes are scoring 3.28 goals per game and they are allowing 2.75 goals against per game, while going 27% on the power play and 84.1% on the penalty kill. Sebastian Aho has led Carolina with 24 goals, 40 assists, and 166 shots on goal. The projected starting goalie for Carolina is Pyotr Kochetkov, who is 16-11-3 this year with a 2.41 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
Canadiens vs Hurricanes Betting Prediction
Montreal was able to pick up a nice overtime win against Nashville in their last game, but they have played very poorly over the last few weeks. The Canadiens have lost nine of their last 12 games and they are allowing 3.48 goals against per game this year. Carolina has won two of their last three games and they are 19-8-4 at home, while Montreal is 12-12-7 on the road. The Hurricanes have allowed two regulation goals or fewer in eight of their last 12 games and I think they are going to shut down the Montreal offense in this game. Take the under here.