The NHL season continues this week as the Florida Panthers make the trip north of the border to take on the Montreal Canadiens.
After winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Panthers have struggled this time around and come into this game with a 22-17-3 record, and have allowed more goals than they have scored. The Canadiens, on the other hand, had a difficult campaign last year but have improved dramatically this year, and come into this game with a 24-13-6 record.
We’ll break down the match-up between the sides and provide you with our best free NHL betting picks, as we try to earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the ice.
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Montreal started their season with a surprise 5-2 defeat against the Toronto Maple Leafs, before winning eight of their next ten games to end October with an 8-3 record. The team picked up wins over the Detroit Red Wings (5-1), Chicago Blackhawks (3-2), Buffalo Sabres (4-2), and Vancouver Canucks (4-3), while they also defeated the Seattle Kraken (x2), Nashville Predators, and Calgary Flames in overtime.
The team continued their good form into November with an overtime win against the Ottawa Senators, before an overtime defeat to Philadelphia Flyers and a shootout loss against New Jersey Devils stopped their momentum. They went on to lose five of their next seven games, and also lost a shootout to Columbus Blue Jackets in a poor run of form.
But Montreal got back to winning ways with three consecutive victories against Toronto, Utah and Vegas, before ending the month with a defeat to Colorado.
Despite losing three of their first five games in December, it was actually a much better month for them. Following that slow start, Montreal won six of their next ten games, including a 3-2 overtime win over the Panthers to end the year with a 21-12-6 record.
So far in January, the Canadiens have gone 3-1 with wins against the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, and Calgary Flames.
Florida were considered by many to be the pre-season favorites to win the Stanley Cup once again this year after their success last season, but they are struggling by their own high standards.
The Panthers started the season with three consecutive wins, defeating Chicago, Philadelphia and Ottawa by an aggregate score of 11-5. But what followed was a major shock, as they fell to five defeats in six games, including four consecutive losses against Philadelphia, Detroit, New Jersey and Buffalo, as they ended the month 5-5-1.
November was a bit better for them, as the team went 7-6 over the month. However, their form was inconsistent at best, as they only won back-to-back games twice, when they beat the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington, and then when they beat Vancouver and New Jersey. They also only lost consecutive games once in the month, in their final two games.
Florida finally seemed to find their groove in December, despite failing to win either of their first two games. The team followed that up with seven wins over their next eight games, including a four-game win streak over Dallas, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and Carolina.
So far this month, however, the team have struggled again, going 2-2, including a defeat to Toronto in their last outing.
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Despite playing as recently as last night, the Canadiens are the pick for this home game over the Panthers.
While the Panthers are the favorites with the bookies, so far this season they have gone 14-17 when being the moneyline favorites, and they have won just 10 of their 25 games when their odds have been set at -134 or shorter.
You can then consider that Montreal have won 12 of 22 games where they have been the underdog this season, including eight times where their odds have been +112 or more.
Montreal are also 10-9-1 at home this season, while the Panthers are 8-8 on the road, and the Canadiens are in a much better space right now, especially when you consider their performance on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.
Florida have some injury concerns heading into the game too, and while it’s certainly not a foregone conclusion that they lose, the best value is on backing the home team to come away with a victory to continue their momentum, and pile the misery on the Panthers at the same time.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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