NHL Picks

Lightning vs Canadiens Pick – NHL Predictions & Odds 3/18/23

Montreal Canadiens (27-36-6) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (41-22-6)
March 18, 2023 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Lightning -400 / Montreal Canadiens +295; Over/Under: +6.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning meet Saturday in NHL action at the Amalie Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Montreal Canadiens are averaging 2.7 goals per game and are scoring on 15.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Cole Caufield leads Montreal with 26 goals, Nick Suzuki has 30 assists and Josh Anderson has 162 shots on goal. Defensively, the Montreal Canadiens are allowing 3.6 goals per game and are killing 72.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jake Allen has given up 138 goals on 1,281 shots faced, and Sam Montembeault has allowed 100 goals on 1,042 shots.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are averaging 3.5 goals per game and are scoring on 25.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Brayden Point leads Tampa Bay with 43 goals, Nikita Kucherov has 70 assists and Steven Stamkos has 212 shots on goal. Defensively, the Tampa Bay Lightning are allowing 3 goals per game and are killing 79.9 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Andrei Vasilevskiy has given up 139 goals on 1,622 shots faced, and Brian Elliott has allowed 54 goals on 521 shots.

The Canadiens are 24-55 in their last 79 road games and 50-106 in their last 156 overall. The Lightning are 38-15 in their last 53 home games and 1-5 in their last 6 games following a win. The over is 6-1 in Canadiens last 7 overall. The over is 11-5-2 in Lightning last 18 Saturday games. The Canadiens are 5-16 in the last 21 meetings in Tampa Bay and 6-20 in the last 26 meetings. The favorite is 22-5 in the last 27 meetings.

I don’t want to back the Montreal Canadiens as much as the next guy, and this matchup is horrible. However, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had some hiccups these last couple of weeks and this price is insane. The Habs are the fifth most profitable team in the league because they’ve been able to win games in spots like this. Tampa Bay is actually in the red this season. I’ll take a shot in the dark to make three times my money.

Randy Chambers's Free Pick: Montreal Canadiens +295

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Randy Chambers

Randy has covered sports betting since 2014 and writes about everything from NFL to WNBA. Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter.

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