The Montreal Canadiens (18-17-6) host the Pittsburgh Penguins (24-11-5) Saturday at Bell Centre for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop. We analyze the Penguins-Canadiens sports betting odds and lines, while providing NHL betting tips and picks around this matchup.
Penguins at Canadiens: Projected starting goalies
Matt Murray vs. Carey Price
Murray stopped 44 of 48 shots in a win over the Nashville Predators his last time out, Dec. 28. He is 11-6-4 on the year with a .894 save percentage and 2.96 goals against average.
Price enters Saturday on a personal three-game losing streak, dropping him to 16-14-3 on the season. He has a .901 SV% and 3.00 GAA. He allowed at least four goals in three of his last five starts.
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Penguins at Canadiens: Odds, picks and betting tips
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full set of today’s betting odds. Odds last updated at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Penguins 4, Canadiens 1
Moneyline (ML)
The PENGUINS (-106) are the value play as a slight road underdog. C Sidney Crosby (abdomen) and LW Jake Guentzel (shoulder) remain out of the lineup, but the Habs are also missing key forwards in RW Brendan Gallagher (concussion) and LW Jonathan Drouin (wrist). The Pens are the much deeper team up front and on defense. We’ll call the goaltending battle even with both accomplished starters struggling mightily in 2019-20.
Pittsburgh is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and 8-7-2 on the road overall. Montreal is 4-6-0 over its last 10 games with four straight losses coming into Saturday and it is just 8-9-3 on home ice for the season. Both teams last played, and lost, Thursday.
New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Penguins to win in regulation, overtime or a shootout returns a profit of $9.43.
Puck Line/Against the Spread (ATS)
Double down on the PENGUINS (-1.5, +260) with the alternative spread. They’re not worth the juice at -286 to cover +1.5 and either lose by just one goal or win outright, but that’s why we have alternate lines. Backing the Pens to win by at least 2 goals will return a profit of $26 on a $10 bet.
The Penguins are 20-20 against the spread overall but 10-7 on the road. The Canadiens are 22-19 ATS overall but just 7-13 at home. Each of the Penguins’ last five losses came by margins of at least 2 goals.
Over/Under (O/U)
Both teams are 5-5 against the Over/Under across their last 10 games. We’ll lean to the UNDER 5.5 (+125) Saturday as the value play. There’s too much firepower missing from both of these lineups, and at least one of these goaltenders will return to proper form sooner than later.
Esten’s NHL betting record: 153-124
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