The Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings meet in NHL action from Little Caesars Arena on Saturday night.
The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to build on their 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames in their last matchup. Nick Suzuki leads the Habs with 14 points including 4 goals and 10 assists while Tyler Toffoli has 9 points with 3 goals and 6 assists. Mike Hoffman also has 4 goals of his own this season while Mathieu Perreault has a team-high +3 plus/minus rating this season. Jake Allen’s made the majority of the starts in goal for Montreal, going 4-8-1 with a 2.86 GAA and a .902 save percentage this season.
The Detroit Red Wings will look to bounce back from a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Washington Capitals in their last game. Tyler Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings with 15 points including a team-high 9 goals and a +9 plus/minus rating this season while Lucas Raymond has 14 points with 6 goals, 8 assists and 3 power play goals. Moritz Seider has a team-high 9 assists while Vladislav Namestnikov and Dylan Larkin each have 9 points with the former putting up 7 goals. Alex Nedeljkovic has gone 3-2-2 with a 2.89 GAA and a .914 save percentage in goal for Detroit while Thomas Greiss is 4-4 with a 3.09 GAA and a .909 save percentage on the year.
Montreal is 5-15 in their last 20 games overall and 1-8 in their last 9 road games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games as an underdog. Detroit is 40-98 in their last 138 games overall and 11-42 in their last 53 games against the Eastern Conference while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 Saturday games.
I get that the bad times for Montreal can’t go on forever… at least I don’t think they can… but until they turn around, I think you have to fade the Habs at all turns. Detroit isn’t a world-beater by any means, but they play their best hockey by far at home and I think they’re worth the play here.