On ice Saturday night, two teams out of the Eastern Conference will square off, as the Montreal Canadiens will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay is on the outside looking in for the postseason, as they are 37-29- 9, for 83 points. That’s 3 points behind Boston for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference.
For Montreal, they are leading the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens have the fifth most points in all of the Eastern Conference, behind the four teams in the Metro Division. Montreal is 43-24- 9 on the season. The Tampa Bay Lightning come into the game listed at -110 in the NHL odds over the Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal at Tampa Bay NHL Betting Lines & Preview
When: Saturday April 1st, 2017; 7:00pm ET
Where: Amalie Arena; Tampa, FL
TV: SUN, NHL Center Ice
Stream: NHL.tvRadio: Montreal / Tampa BayNHL Odds: Tampa Bay Lightning -110
Why Bet on Montreal Canadiens?
The Montreal Canadiens are starting to play better hockey, as they have won two straight games. The Canadiens have won 6 out of their last 10 as well. When the Canadiens play away from home, they are 20-13- 4. Montreal is 6th in all of the National Hockey League, with 2.4 goals per game.
The top scorer for the Canadiens this season has been left wing Max Pacioretty. He has scored 34 goals and dished out 29 assists. The Canadiens are coming off a season last year where they won 43 games, and ended with 95 points. That came off a season the previous year where they won just 38 games.
Why Bet on Tampa Bay Lightning?
The Lightning still have a chance. Tampa Bay picked up a massive overtime win over the Blackhawks recently. The Lightning are widely known as a team that could be tough to beat if they were able to get into the postseason. The Lightning are scoring 2.8 goals per game, and allowing 2.7 per game.
The top scorer for Tampa Bay this season has been right wing Nikita Kucherov. He has scored 38 goals, while dishing out 42 assists on the season. Tampa Bay went two straight seasons with 100+ points, before recorded 97 a season ago.
Betting Score & Prediction
The Tampa Bay Lightning have a ton to play for the rest of the season. They have a chance to make the postseason, but do not have any room to struggle. Look for Montreal to look to play well, to try getting momentum as they head into the postseason. The Canadiens also want to keep that top divisional spot.
This will be an interesting game, between two teams that know each other. The Tampa Bay Lightning have a roster that can score in bunches at time, but have been pretty quiet most of the season. The final bet for this game is the Tampa Bay Lightning -110 over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
