Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers Prediction NHL Picks 12/28/24

The Montreal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers meet Saturday in NHL action from the Amerant Bank Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers prediction.

Montreal Canadiens Recap

The Montreal Canadiens come into this game looking to bounce back after a 5-4 loss to Columbus last time out. After this game, Montreal will continue on the road for a back-to-back in the Sunshine State against Tampa Bay.

Canadiens Looking To Rebound

Nick Suzuki has a team-high 35 points with 11 goals and a team-high 24 assists while Cole Caufield has 32 points with a team-high 17 goals. Mike Matheson has 15 assists while Juraj Slafkovsky has 19 points with 15 assists and Lane Hutson has 24 assists as well on the year. Brendan Gallagher has 16 points with 9 goals while Jake Evans has 21 points with 8 goals and 13 assists. In goal for Montreal, Sam Montembeault has gone 12-14-2 with a 2.94 GAA and a .900 save percentage while Cayden Primeau is 2-3-1 with a 4.70 GAA and an .836 save percentage this season.

Why the Montreal Canadiens will win

• The Canadiens have won four of their last five games as underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
• The Panthers have lost four of their last five games as home favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.
• The road team has covered the puck line in each of the Panthers’ last five games.
• The Panthers have failed to cover the puck line in five of their last six games as home favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.

Florida Panthers Recap

The Florida Panthers come into this game looking to bounce back from a 4-0 loss at the hands of Tampa Bay last time out. After this game, Florida will welcome the Rangers to town.

Panthers Looking To Rebound

Sam Reinhart has a team-high 45 points including 22 goals and 23 assists while Sam Bennett has 27 points with 13 goals and 14 assists and Anton Lundell has 23 points of his own with 8 goals and 15 assists. Aleksander Barkov also has 33 points with 23 assists of his own while Carter Verhaeghe has 27 points with 9 goals and 18 assists and Matthew Tkachuk has 35 points with 13 goals and 22 assists. Sergei Bobrovsky is 16-7-1 with a 2.80 GAA and an .895 save percentage while Spencer Knight is 6-5-1 with a 2.78 GAA and an .891 save percentage in goal for Florida this season.

Why the Florida Panthers will win

• The Canadiens have lost each of their last nine games at Amerant Bank Arena.
• The Panthers have won 11 of their last 12 home games against the Canadiens.
• The Panthers have covered the puck line in each of their last five home games against the Canadiens following a loss.
• The Canadiens have failed to cover the puck line in nine of their last 10 games at Amerant Bank Arena following a road loss.

Canadiens vs. Panthers Prediction

I’m on the over here. I just think you have two teams that have been giving up goals and/or playing in high-scoring games when they’ve been competing, and there’s been a fair amount of high-scoring games in the history of this matchup. Give me the over.