Each team’s fourth game of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Montreal Canadiens take the ice at Bell Centre for an Eastern Conference tilt. AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh will broadcast the game, which gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 13.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens Odds
Pittsburgh (+145) is entering this one as the underdog to Pittsburgh (-165) and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at an even 6 goals. The odds for betting the total sit at -115 for the over and -105 for the under.
Pittsburgh is 2-1 straight up (SU) and has lost 0.6 units for moneyline bettors this year. That early-season SU winning percentage is a drop-off from the 47-35 record that the team posted during the 2017-18 season campaign.
The Penguins have scored on 20.0 percent of their power play opportunities thus far. That’s a fairly big drop-off from last season, when they were ranked first in the league by converting on 25.7 percent of their extra-man chances. Their penalty kill has gotten stronger since last year, however, as they’ve gone from successfully defending 80.4 percent of opponents’ power plays (ranked 14th overall last season) to 100.0 percent this year.
The Pens, as a collective unit, have been whistled for penalties just 2.3 times per game this season. Last year, that number was the mark in the league at 4.0 penalties per game. After serving an average of 9.4 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to kill penalties for only 4.7 minutes per outing this year.
With a .831 save percentage and 27.0 saves per game, Matt Murray (1-1) has been the primary option in goal for Pittsburgh this season. If Pittsburgh chooses to rest him, however, head coach Mike Sullivan might turn to Casey DeSmith (1-0), who has a .946 save percentage and 2.00 goals against average this year.
The visiting Penguins will be led by Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. Malkin has six points via one goal and five assists this season; Kessel has three goals and two assists to his name through the early stages of the regular season.
Montreal is 1-2 straight up (SU) and has netted moneyline bettors 0.1 units this season. Through three regular season contests, two of its games have gone under the total, while zero have gone over and one has pushed.
The Canadiens have killed off a remarkable 88.9 percent of all penalties, a few points higher than the 74.1 percent they posted a year ago (when they were ranked 30th overall). They have found the net on 9.1 percent of their power plays this year after converting on 21.3 percent (ranked ninth in league) last season.
Canadiens players have been sent to the penalty box 3.3 times per game this season, a number that’s improved from the 3.8 penalties per game given up last year. After serving an average of 8.6 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team has had to kill penalties for 9.3 minutes per contest this year.
Carey Price has denied 23.3 shots per game as the primary selection in goal for the Canadiens. Price has one win, two losses, and one overtime loss to his credit and has registered a 2.32 goals against average and a fairly-weak .909 save percentage this season.
The home team will be led on offense by Paul Byron (two goals, two assists).
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Montreal Canadiens Betting Predictions
Prediction: SU Winner – Canadiens, O/U – Over
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Notes
Betting Trends
Pittsburgh has managed only 0.0 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Montreal has been attempting 40.0 shots per game over its last five at home.
Pittsburgh skaters recorded 24.6 hits per game last season, while the Habs logged 26.5 hits per matchup.
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