It is Game 3 of the NHL semifinals as the Montréal Canadiens will look to take a 2-1 edge in their series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Montréal pulled off a huge 3-2 victory in Vegas in Game 2.
Here you can find the best picks, news, and stats for NHL playoff semifinal battle at Bell Centre. Vegas is the favorite at -156. This according to PointsBet Sportsbook, which puts Montréal at +135 as the underdog.
Tomas Nosek and Chandler Stephenson are listed as questionable for the Golden Knights. Peyton Krebs is out. Jake Evans and Tomas Tater are listed as questionable for the Canadiens. Jonathan Drouin is out.
Early Deficit Too Much for Vegas
The Canadiens scored three unanswered goals to start the contest and Vegas was not able to recover, falling 3-2. Alex Pietrangelo scored both goals for the Golden Knights and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 of 23 shots.
Vegas is averaging 3.07 goals per game and are connecting on 9.6% of their shots, both fourth during the playoffs. The power-play has not been very effective at 11.8%. The Golden Knights are led by William Karlsson with nine assists and 13 points. Jonathan Marchessault leads the team with six goals but does not have any in his last three games.
Vegas is allowing 2.33 goals per game and is solid in penalty killing at 71.0%. Fleury is now 9-5 with a 1.92 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
Early Surge Propels Canadiens
Montréal got first period goals from Joel Armia and Tyler Toffoli and Paul Byron added a goal with a little over two minutes left in the second to propel Montréal to a 3-0 lead before the team was able to hold on. Joel Edmundson finished with two assists and Carey Price stopped 29 of 31 shots.
Montréal is averaging 2.46 goals per game and is connecting on 8.4% of their shots, fifth overall. The Canadiens have been excellent on the power-play at 20.0%. Toffoli now leads the team with 12 points and is tied for the team lead in goals with five. Armia also has five.
Montréal is allowing 2.31 goals per game in the penalty killing has been spectacular at 91.9%, best in the postseason. Price has been outstanding, going 9-4 with a 2.14 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
Trends:
Vegas:
- 11-5 on the road in their last 16 games.
- 16-5 in their last 21 games on Friday.
Montréal:
- None
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Montréal Canadiens Pick:
Montreal returns home but this team has not been great at home this season. They were 13-11-4 during the regular season and are 3-2 during the playoffs. However, they have won their last three games at home. That sounds great for the Canadiens, but Vegas is a team that wins when they need one. This is a huge contest in this series, so expect the Golden Knights to come out and dominate this contest.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Montréal Canadiens Total Pick:
Oddsmakers were spot on in the last game, setting a total of 5.0. I wanted to push on that game, and advised that Game 2 would likely end with five total goals being scored, so you would have been a big winner if you bet on that. This time, look for the over. Look for the Golden Knights to step up their game and really push inside the Montréal zone. This contest is going to be something like 4-2.