The Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet Wednesday in NHL action from the Benchmark International Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning prediction.
Montreal Canadiens Recap
The Montreal Canadiens come into this game looking to bounce back from their 3-2 loss at the hands of the Lightning in game four.
Canadiens Looking To Restore Home Ice
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 101 points including 29 goals and 72 assists while Cole Caufield has 88 points with a team-high 51 goals and 37 assists. Lane Hutson has 78 points with 66 assists while Ivan Demidov has 62 points with 19 goals and 43 assists. Noah Dobson has 47 points with 35 assists and Mike Matheson has 37 points with 7 goals and 30 assists. Oliver Kapanen has 37 points with 22 goals and 15 assists while Zack Bolduc has 30 points with 12 goals and 18 assists. Juraj Slafkovsky also has 73 points with 30 goals and 43 assists. Sam Montembault has gone 10-8-4 with a 3.43 GAA and an .872 save percentage in goal for the Canadiens while Jakub Dobes is 29-10-4 with a 2.78 GAA and a .901 save percentage. Jacob Fowler is also 8-6-2 with a 2.52 GAA and an .904 save percentage for the Habs this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to push Montreal to the brink after evening up the series at two wins apiece.
Lightning Looking For Series Lead
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 130 points including 44 goals and 86 assists while Brandon Hagel has 74 points with 36 goals and 38 assists and Jake Guentzel has 88 points with 38 goals and 50 assists. Anthony Cirelli has 52 points with 23 goals and 29 assists. Darren Raddysh has also added 70 points with 22 goals and 48 assists as well on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 39-15-4 with a 2.31 GAA and a .912 save percentage while Jonas Johansson is 11-10-2 with a 3.29 GAA and an .884 save percentage this season.
Montreal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning Betting Trends: April 29, 2026
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The Lightning have won each of their last six games against the Canadiens following a road win.
- The Canadiens have lost 16 of their last 20 games at Benchmark International Arena.
- The Lightning have won the second period in each of their last four games as home favorites following a road win.
Why the Montreal Canadiens will win
- The Canadiens have won 12 of their last 13 games as underdogs following a loss.
- The Lightning have lost three of their last four Game 5s of an Eastern Conference First Round series.
- The Canadiens have covered the puck line in each of their last 29 games as underdogs.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last 10 games.
- The Canadiens have won the second period in each of their last eight games as underdogs when trailing after the first period.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Lightning’s last six games as favorites following a road win have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Each of the Canadiens’ last four road games against the Lightning following a loss have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Five of the last six night games between two teams from the Atlantic Division have gone UNDER the total goals line.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2′ market has hit in each of the Canadiens’ last eight games following a loss.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2’ market has hit in each of the Lightning’s last eight games following a road win.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts
- Brandon Hagel has scored at least one goal in each of his last five appearances against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Jake Guentzel has recorded at least one assist in each of the Lightning’s last four games.
- Nikita Kucherov ranks T1st in the league for multi-assist games (25) this season.
Montreal Canadiens Player Prop Facts
- Juraj Slafkovsky has scored at least one goal in five of the Canadiens’ last six road games against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Cole Caufield has recorded at least one assist in nine of his last 10 road appearances against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Cole Caufield ranks 1st in the league for Game Winning Goals (12) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Tampa Bay Lightning rank 3rd in the league for goals against per game this season (2.79).
- The Tampa Bay Lightning rank 3rd in the league in penalty kill percentage this season (82.56%).
- The Montreal Canadiens rank 7th in the league for goals per game this season (3.40).
- The Montreal Canadiens are one of only three teams with two or more players to record at least 60 assists this season (Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson).
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction
I’m on the Canadiens in this one. I just think this series is a coin flip more than anything else and I think this price is on Tampa Bay’s playoff name brand. But Montreal was really solid on the road in the regular season and have already won in this building so give me the Habs in this one.