BEST LINES: Pinnacle +131 Bet365 +130 SportsInteraction +130 5DIMES +130

Posted at 11:45 AM EST.

7:05 PM EST. OT included. Montreal has lost eight straight to Chicago dating back to 2014. That’s another one of those useless trends we couldn’t give a f**k about and you shouldn’t either. You may also read or hear that the Blackhawks are coming off back-to-back shutouts against Minnesota and Philadelphia, thus, they haven’t allowed a goal in two-plus games or in 72 minutes. That’s also useless info. If Chicago’s defense was that good, why did they allow six goals against to Colorado earlier this week? Pucks going in or not is very largely based on pure luck around the net. The market is influenced by said results, which works to our advantage because it provides opportunities. We’re insistent that results do not even come close to telling the story. 

Chicago is 7-5-2 while the Habs are 5-8-1 and both teams played last night. The Canadiens won in Winnipeg, 5-4 in OT while the Blackhawks won in Minnesota 2-0. Incidentally, Montreal played in Minnesota on Thursday and got whacked, 6-3 while Chicago was shutting out Philadelphia, 3-0 in its game prior to last night. Again, those are a bunch of results that mean very little. What means more is the product on the ice and Montreal’s ingredients are superior to Chicago’s. That Chicago has not allowed a goal in two games + is even better because a correction is more likely. The Canadiens continue to dominate puck possession numbers. They are a top-3 team in many key puck possession metrics. That 5-4 win over Winnipeg last night is another misleading score, as Montreal once again dominated from start to finish and outshot the Jets, 50-23 when it was all said and done. The Habs are also a strong Corsi against team, ranking second in the NHL in Coris against/per 60 minutes while the Blackhawks Corsi against ranks 26 out of 31 teams.  

Hockey is the most luck-driven sport of them all and there is not a crystal ball in the world or system that is going to predict which team gets the bounces/deflections or the hot/cold goaltending. What we can predict, however with relative accuracy is which team is going to possess the puck and create more chances and in that regard, we’re confident that the Habs are clearly the superior team here. That Montreal win last night, being down 4-2 in the third and sticking with it to rally to a 5-4 win may carry over here and might be thing that ignites the Habs on a good run up the standings. Certainly, they’ve played well enough to be near or at the top of the standings but the misleading results say otherwise. 

Open an account today at Pinnacle Sports and take advantage of their -104 style pricing on sides and totals, which is 60% better than other sportsbooks