| MATCHUP | Tampa Bay Lightning | Montreal Canadiens |
|---|---|---|
| Team Records | 48-24-6 | 46-22-10 |
| Spread | -1.5 205 | +1.5 -250 |
| Moneyline | -115 | -105 |
| Total | Over 6.5 (-105) | Under 6.5 (-115) |
| Where | Bell Centre, Montreal, QC | |
| When | Thursday, April 9, 2026 | |
| Time | 07:00 PM EDT | |
| TV | ESPN+ | |
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens meet Thursday in NHL action from the Bell Centre. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens prediction.
Tampa Bay Lightning Recap
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to bounce back from their 6-2 loss at the hands of Ottawa last time out to sit at 48-24-6 this season. After this game, the Lightning will head on the road for a game against the Boston Bruins.
Lightning Lose Back-To-Back Games
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 127 points including 43 goals and 84 assists while Brandon Hagel has 73 points with 35 goals and 38 assists and Jake Guentzel has 86 points with 37 goals and 49 assists. Anthony Cirelli has 52 points with 23 goals and 29 assists. Darren Raddysh has also added 69 points with 21 goals and 48 assists as well on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 37-14-4 with a 2.33 GAA and a .912 save percentage while Jonas Johansson is 11-10-2 with a 3.29 GAA and an .884 save percentage this season.
Montreal Canadiens Recap
The Montreal Canadiens come into this game looking to add on to their 4-3 shootout win over Florida last time out to sit at 46-22-10 this season. After this game, the Canadiens will head home for a game against Columbus.
Canadiens Win 9 Of Last 10
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 95 points including 27 goals and 68 assists while Cole Caufield has 86 points with a team-high 49 goals and 37 assists. Lane Hutson has 75 points with a team-high 63 assists while Ivan Demidov has 61 points with 18 goals and 43 assists. Noah Dobson has 47 points with 35 assists and Mike Matheson has 37 points with 7 goals and 30 assists. Oliver Kapanen has 37 points with 22 goals and 15 assists while Zack Bolduc has 28 points with 11 goals and 17 assists. Juraj Slafkovsky also has 69 points with 29 goals and 40 assists. Sam Montembault has gone 10-8-4 with a 3.43 GAA and an .872 save percentage in goal for the Canadiens while Jakub Dobes is 28-8-4 with a 2.73 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Jacob Fowler is also 8-6-2 with a 2.52 GAA and an .904 save percentage for the Habs this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning @ Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends: April 9, 2026
Why the Montreal Canadiens will win
- The Canadiens have won each of their last nine games as underdogs after coming off overtime.
- The Lightning have lost 18 of their last 31 games as road favorites against Atlantic Division opponents.
- The Canadiens have covered the puck line in each of their last 23 games as underdogs.
- The Lightning have failed to cover the puck line in four of their last five games as road favorites against Eastern Conference opponents.
- The Canadiens have won the second period in each of their last eight games as underdogs when trailing after the first period.
Why the Tampa Bay Lightning will win
- The road team has won six of the Canadiens’ last seven games.
- The Canadiens have lost six of their last seven home games following a shootout win.
- The road team has covered the puck line in nine of the last 10 games between the Lightning and Canadiens.
- The Canadiens have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last four games.
- The Lightning have won the first period in seven of their last eight road games against the Canadiens.
Total Goals Facts
- Each of the Canadiens’ last six games as home underdogs following a home win have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Seven of the Lightning’s last eight road games have gone OVER the total goals line.
- Each of the last three games between teams from the same division have gone OVER the total goals line.
- The ‘Over 1.5 Goals Period 2′ market has hit in each of the Canadiens’ last 12 games as home underdogs.
- The ‘Over 2.5 Goals Period 1’ market has hit in four of the Lightning’s last five road games against the Canadiens.
Montreal Canadiens Player Prop Facts
- Juraj Slafkovsky has scored the first goal in four of the Canadiens’ last five games as underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Cole Caufield has scored at least one goal in each of his last six appearances with the Canadiens as underdogs against Eastern Conference opponents.
- Lane Hutson has recorded at least one assist in eight of the Canadiens’ last nine games as underdogs against Atlantic Division opponents.
- Cole Caufield ranks 1st in the league for Game Winning Goals (12) this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning Player Prop Facts
- Nikita Kucherov has scored a goal in each of his last four road appearances against the Canadiens.
- Nikita Kucherov has recorded at least one assist in seven of the Lightning’s last eight road games.
- Nikita Kucherov ranks 1st in the league for multi-assist games (25) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Montreal Canadiens rank 6th in the league for goals per game this season (3.45).
- The Montreal Canadiens rank 8th in the league in power play percentage this season (23.89%).
- The Tampa Bay Lightning rank T2nd in the league for goals per game this season (3.55).
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are one of only two teams in the league to rank top 5 for both goals for and goals against per game this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction
I’m on the over in this one. I think this ends up being a high-scoring game and while I’d like to just roll with the hotter team in Montreal, the Lightning still have some motivation to show up here as they’re still within arms reach of Buffalo for the division title. All in all I think it’s going to be an entertaining game that cashes the over.