Posted at 11:00 AM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle  +156 BET365 +165 Sportsinteraction +170  888Sport +170

Montreal +170 over Toronto

7:07 PM EST. OT included. The Maple Leafs are going to be working on reintroducing star forward Mitch Marner into the lineup tonight, and they will be shaking up the lines to do so. Head coach Sheldon Keefe is content to keep Auston Matthews with Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, as that trio has been buzzing with Marner absent. This leaves the returning star to play on the second line with John Tavares and Bobby McMann, which bumps William Nylander, a star in his own right, to the third line with Pontus Holmberg and Matthew Knies. Having so many top forwards is both a blessing and a curse, and it remains to be seen just how Nylander will respond to the demotion and how long Keefe will stick with this experiment. If the Maple Leafs' goal well runs dry, it’s going to be very tempting to tinker or simply reunite Matthews and Marner.

The Canadiens were eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday, but don’t tell that to anyone cheering Le Grand Club at the Bell Centre tonight, as this game might as well be Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. You see, while this has been a disappointing year for the Habs, they have one more crack at the hated Maple Leafs tonight with a chance to make life a little more difficult for Toronto as they march toward the playoffs, desperately hanging on to third place in the Atlantic Division. Really, outside a playoff run of their own, what else could the Canadiens ask for this late in the season?

Hockey is life in Montreal, and so do not think for a second that the Habs are going to pack it in the rest of the way. Further to that point, the young core Montreal loves playing for head coach Marty St. Louis, and to quit now would be to quit on the Hall of Famer, who had his team’s back after they were officially eliminated, saying, “You have to have the attitude that this is not a funeral. This is a celebration of life…there are so many positives…so we’ll finish with that vibe.” St. Louis also called out a reporter for what he thought was an unfair comment about the Habs' recent run of wins, which that reporter called “easy.” St. Louis made it known that nothing comes “easy” in the NHL, and he called out the “negative society” that follows the Canadiens. St. Louis has run a master class in “us versus them,” and while it would be easy for the Habs to roll over and die, they do not figure to go quietly into the night.

Sherwood

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------