The Montreal Canadiens hope to ride the momentum from Carey Price’s victorious return to the net Saturday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets in one of five National Hockey League games scheduled for tonight.
Winnipeg is the other Canadian team in action tonight, hosting the Minnesota Wild. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh renew their Pennsylvania rivalry, New Jersey is home to Florida and Anaheim visits Chicago to round out the NHL slate.
We’re on a 6-3 run with our free NHL betting picks and look to add to that streak tonight.
NHL Betting Odds For Tonight
Here’s a look at the odds for each of those games at www.BetOnline.ag as of Monday afternoon.
(For the latest odds, visit our Live Odds page.)
NHL Predictions For Tonight
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens
Defence has keyed the Blue Jackets’ 6-game winning streak, with Columbus averaging 1 goal against per game during that stretch. But all is not well at the other end of the ice for the Jackets, where they’ve scored 2 goals or less in 6 of their last 8 outings. Columbus did pot 5 goals Friday at home to the Senators, but it’ll be harder to crack a Canadiens defence that has given up 2 regulation time goals or less in 7 of its last 10 games.
Especially now that Price is back. The Montreal goaltender looked like his former self in a 3-0 win over the Sabres Saturday at home, good news for a Habs team that continues to struggle to score goals. Montreal has scored just 6 goals in its last 4 games, and the only 2 times it scored more than 2 goals in its last 8 games, Montreal did it against Buffalo and Arizona.
BetOnline has -144 juice on the Under 5.5, but Pinnacle and several other NHL betting sites are offering a total of 5 with plus money on the Under. Considering that these teams combining for just 5 regulation time goals in their last 3 meetings, the value looks to be on another low-scoring game tonight.
Prediction: Under 5 +124
Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins
The Flyers have lost 7 straight, but at least they’re putting up a fight. 4 of those 7 losses came in overtime, and they’ve scored 3 goals or more in 3 of their last 4 games.
Pittsburgh snapped a 3-game losing streak with a 5-2 win at home over Tampa Bay on Saturday night, the fifth time in 7 games that the Pens have scored 3 goals or more. Pittsburgh isn’t airtight in its own end right now, however, having given up 2 goals or more in 7 of its last 8 games and 4+ goals in 5 of its last 8.
The Pens’ power play is clicking right now (6 for 11 in its last 3 games) while the Flyers’ penalty kill is struggling (9 goals against in 23 times shorthanded over its last 5). The Over/Under of 6 is pretty high, but the likelihood of each team getting to 3 goals tonight makes it worth a play at plus money.
Prediction: Over 6 +109
Minnesota Wild at Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg’s been on an impressive run for the past month, but the Jets look pretty vulnerable here. They just returned from a 4-game road trip that included 3 games on the west coast, and they also haven’t had more than 1 day off between games since November 11.
That could spell some trouble against a Wild team that has had no issues scoring goals of late, potting 3+ in 6 of its last 7 games. Minnesota’s also gunning for some revenge here after losing the first 2 meetings of the year with the Jets.
Both teams are playing their fourth game in 6 days, but the Wild has actually been pretty good on short rest (6-1 in its last 7 games when playing its 4th in 6) and has also won its last 4 games following a loss of 3 goals or more. Look for Minnesota to light the lamp a few times against a tired Jets squad.
Prediction: Wild Team Total Over 2.5 -120