Montreal Canadiens Travel to North Carolina to Face the Hurricanes

The Montreal Canadiens will travel to the PNC Arenas on Thursday evening to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in an Eastern Conference game.

This will be the third and final game played between these two in the regular season, as the Hurricanes are looking for the sweep here after defeating the Canadiens at home 4-0 back on December 30th.

Montreal is currently last in the Atlantic Division (18-37-11, 47 points), while Carolina is sitting at the top of the Metropolitan Division (43-15-7, 93 points) thus far. 

This game looks like it has the potential to be a one-sided matchup on records alone, so it will be interesting when we dive into both franchises. Let’s look at the Canadiens and the Hurricanes to determine our best wager here. 

Game Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Carolina Hurricanes March 31st

Montreal is struggling offensively as they are averaging 2.53 goals on 29.7 shot attempts so far. Center Nick Suzuki has been leading the way for them as he leads in all three categories for the team with 39 points (18 goals, 31 assists) while adding four points in his previous five games.

On the defensive side of things, the Canadiens are giving up 3.71 goals on 34.2 shots this season. Goaltender Sam Montembeault has struggled with a 7-13-6 record with a .895 save percentage and 3.64 goals allowed per game. 

Center Sebastian Aho has played pretty well for the Hurricanes as he is tied for 24th in the sport in goals and tied for 33rd in the league in points as he has produced 64 points (28 goals, 36 assists) and has scored three points in his last three games. As a team, they are scoring 3.31 goals on 29.7 shots right now.

Frederik Andersen has been one of the best goalies in all of hockey as he has a 31-10-3 record with 2.07 goals allowed per game (leads the league) and a .926 save percentage (third in the NHL). Defensively, Carolina is allowing just 2.37 goals on 28.7 shot attempts against them.

Montreal Canadiens at Carolina Hurricanes Betting Prediction

There is a huge skill level difference in this game, and it should show, and the injuries on Montreal’s side is definitely not going to help them there.

The offense as of late is showing the Canadiens are scoring three goals per game in their last four games while the Hurricanes are averaging 4.3 goals in their previous three games.

Carolina has covered the spread in the two teams they have faced this season and outscored Montreal 8-1 in their two meetings. All in all, go with the Carolina Hurricanes to sweep the season series and cover the puck line in this game.

* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.