Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings Prediction, NHL Odds
It’s a one-game road trip Thursday night and a second straight Original Six matchup for Montreal as it visits the Detroit Red Wings. The Canadiens are -115 on the NHL odds with a total of 6.5 goals.
Canadiens vs. Red Wings NHL Betting Odds
Thursday is a very tricky spot for Montreal, as it’s one of those one-game road trips that players don’t really like when in the middle of a heavy home slate otherwise. This is the Habs’ only road game in a string of seven straight.
This matchup certainly could have playoff ramifications with Montreal currently sitting third in the Atlantic with 84 points and Detroit tied for fourth (but loses tiebreaker with Boston) at 82 points and holding the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot (also losing that tiebreaker to the Bruins). The Red Wings stunningly haven’t made the post-season since 2016, but that’s going to end. They are -220 for extra hockey and +180 for No.
It’s the final matchup of the regular season with them each owning a blowout win on the road. Mike Matheson (1G, 1A), Nick Suzuki (2A) and Brendan Gallagher (2A) lead Montreal with two points each in the series. Jakub Dobes allowed one goal in his win and Jacob Fowler gave up three in his loss. Dylan Larkin (2G, 1A) and Alex DeBrincat (1G, 2A) lead the Wings with three points in the series. John Gibson saw action in net in both and allowed five goals on 40 shots.
Overall, they have split the past 10 meetings, and the over-under is 4-3-3.
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal snapped a two-game skid with a 3-2 home OT victory over Boston on Tuesday. Josh Anderson’s 13th goal of the season tied it at 13:13 of the second and Cole Caufield’s 40th of the campaign won it at 4:38 of OT. He became the first Canadien to reach the mark since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94 and got there in the fewest amount of games (66) by any Montreal player since Stephane Richer accomplished the feat in 63 games in 1989-90. Caufield is +160 to find the net tonight.
Nick Suzuki reached the 80-point mark for a second season in a row with a goal and assist Tuesday to extend his points streak to four games (3G, 3A). Jakub Dobes improved to 4-2-0 since the Olympic break with a 2.83 GAA and likely gets the start again in Motown. Lane Hutson can become the fastest blueliner in NHL history to record 30 career multi-assist games as Hutson has 29 of them in 151 games played. The record by a defenceman to reach 30 career is in 177 games by Dennis Potvin. Huston is +320 for two assists tonight. The over is 7-3 in Montreal’s past 10 road games.
Detroit Red Wings
Detroit snapped a three-game skid with a 5-2 win over Calgary on Monday to start a four-game homestand. Former Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane was the story with two goals and now has 504 career. He passed Joe Mullen for the fourth most among U.S.-born players, trailing Mike Modano (561), Keith Tkachuk (538) and Jeremy Roenick (513). Kane recorded his 364th multi-point game to move past Mats Sundin for sole possession of 32nd place on the NHL’s all-time list.
And Kane scored his 84th career game-winning goal and passed Zach Parise for the third most by a U.S.-born player. Modano and Jeremy Roenick hold the mark of 92 each.
John Gibson stopped 26 of 28 shots to improve to 12-8-2 with a 3.04 GAA on home ice and likely starts Thursday. The Wings are not whole with forwards Dylan Larkin (55 points), Michael Rasmussen (14 points) and Andrew Copp (37 points) all out injured. Detroit is 1-5 in its past six at home but is more desperate and pulls this one out.
NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Canadiens vs. Red Wings?
