Canadiens vs Panthers Pick – NHL Predictions & Odds 3/30/23

The Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens meet Thursday in NHL action at the Bell Centre. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Florida Panthers are averaging 3.4 goals per game and are scoring on 22.1 percent of their power play opportunities. Carter Verhaeghe leads Florida with 36 goals, Matthew Tkachuk has 62 assists and Brandon Montour has 217 shots on goal. Defensively, the Florida Panthers are allowing 3.4 goals per game and are killing 74 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Sergei Bobrovsky has given up 145 goals on 1,466 shots faced, and Spencer Knight has allowed 62 goals on 627 shots.

The Montreal Canadiens are averaging 2.8 goals per game and are scoring on 17 percent of their power play opportunities. Cole Caufield leads Montreal with 26 goals, Nick Suzuki has 38 assists and Josh Anderson has 164 shots on goal. Defensively, the Montreal Canadiens are allowing 3.7 goals per game and are killing 73.4 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Jake Allen has given up 145 goals on 1,335 shots faced, and Sam Montembeault has allowed 108 goals on 1,138 shots.

The Panthers are 2-12 in their last 14 games playing on 0 days rest and 0-4 in their last 4 overall. The Canadiens are 2-5 in their last 7 home games and 53-109 in their last 162 overall. The over is 3-0-2 in Panthers last 5 overall. The under is 3-1-1 in Canadiens last 5 overall. The Panthers are 7-1 in the last 8 meetings. The home team is 11-2 in the last 13 meetings. The favorite is 39-14 in the last 53 meetings.

I’m not excited to back the Montreal Canadiens as much as the next guy, but the Panthers have gone cold again, and they’re on the end of a back to back where they don’t win. I’m not laying juice with the Panthers in this spot. Instead, I’ll take a chance to make more than 2 times my money by siding with the Habs at home.