Montreal Canadiens at Florida Panthers NHL Picks & Predictions 3/8/2018

Thursday, March 8, 2018

BB&T Center

Get todays NHL hockey odds on this game.

The Montreal Canadiens head to BB&T Center to take on the Florida Panthers on Thursday, March 8, 2018. The opening line for this contest has the Canadiens at +169 and the Panthers at -188.

Montreal has a record of 25-30-11 this year and away from home they have a record of 9-20-3-1. They are 6th in the Atlantic Division. They have tallied 171 goals and surrendered 206 goals for a point differential of -35. For the year they have an ATS mark of 25-41-0 and an over/under record of 28-36-0. Florida has a record of 32-25-7 including 19-9-3-2 on home ice this year. They are 4th in the Atlantic Division. They've scored 193 goals and have given up 204 for a goal differential of -11. Their record against the spread is 32-32-0 while their over/under mark is 33-31-0.

Valuable Montreal Canadiens Betting Trends

The Montreal Canadiens are 25-41-0 straight up this year

The Montreal Canadiens are 28-36-0 against the over/under this season

Important Florida Panthers Betting Trends

The Florida Panthers are 32-32-0 straight up this year

The Florida Panthers are 33-31-0 against the over/under this season

Key Montreal Canadiens Injuries

12/18/17 D Shea Weber Foot IR (12/17)
10/22/17 RW Ales Hemsky Concussion IR (10/20)
03/06/18 LW Charles Hudon Hand is "?" Thursday vs Florida
03/05/18 LW Max Pacioretty Lower Body is OUT 4-6 weeks
03/05/18 D Victor Mete Hand is out for season
02/23/18 GO Carey Price Concussion IR (02/20)

Key Florida Panthers Injuries

02/26/18 C Denis Malgin MCL is out indefinitely
02/17/18 C Frank Vatrano Lower Body IR (02/06)

Player Spotlight

Brendan Gallagher has scored 41 total points this year for the Canadiens. He has 24 goals this season with 218 shots on net, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 17 assists on the year and averages 15.7 minutes played per contest. Max Pacioretty averages 19 minutes of ice time per game this season. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 8% by tallying 17 goals on 212 attempts. He has 20 assists, giving him a total of 37 points on the year. Antti Niemi has 4 wins and 6 losses this season in goal for the Canadiens. He has 466 shots against him and he's surrendered 45 goals. He's made 421 stops for a save percentage of 90%.

Player Spotlight

Vincent Trocheck has 58 total points this season for the Panthers. He has 25 goals this year with 225 shots on goal, giving him a shooting percentage of 11%. He has a total of 33 assists on the year and averages 21.5 minutes played per contest. Jonathan Huberdeau averages 19.5 minutes of ice time per contest. In that time he has a shooting percentage of 13% by scoring 20 goals on 155 attempts. He has 38 assists, giving him a total of 58 points on the year. Roberto Luongo has 12 wins and 7 losses this season in net for the Panthers. He has 791 shots against him and he's given up 58 goals. He's made 733 saves for a save percentage of 93%.

Useful Team Statistics

The Canadiens have 61 total points this year, which is 26th in the NHL. They've scored 171 goals while giving up 206 scores, which has them ranked 29th and 8th respectively. They have had 197 power play chances and scored 40 goals on those opportunities for a percentage of 20%. That is 18th in the league. The Canadiens have given up 213 power play opportunities and surrendered 50 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 77%, ranking them 27th when short-handed. They average 34 shots per contest and as a team shoot 7.73% for the year. They allow 32 shot attempts to their opposition per game and have a team save percentage of 91%, which is 23rd in the league.

Useful Team Statistics

The Panthers are 20th in the league with a total of 71 points this season. They have 39 power play goals on 201 chances for a percentage of 19%. That is 19th in the NHL. They've given up 188 power play opportunities and surrendered 39 goals on those chances for a penalty kill percentage of 79%, ranking 20th overall. As a team, the Panthers are 16th with a total of 193 goals scored while they've given up 204 goals this season, ranking 10th in goals against. They average 34 shots per game and have a team shooting percentage of 8.77%. As a unit they give up 35 shots per contest and have a save percentage of 91%, putting them 18th overall in the NHL.

Advanced Statistics

Montreal has a Corsi percentage of 50.3% as they've tried 4,099 shots on goal while at full strength while they have surrendered 4,053 shots on net when they have a full team on the ice. That ranks them 16th in Corsi percentage. They are 12th in the NHL in Fenwick percentage with 50.6% as they have 2,998 shots while they've given up 2,924 attempts on defense. The Canadiens start possessions in the offensive zone 52.4% of the time while their defensive zone percentage is at 47.6% for the year. That puts them 9th and 22nd in the league in zone percentages respectively. They have 1,938 face-off wins as opposed to 2,108 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 47.9%. That is 27th overall in the NHL. On defense Montreal has 1,686 hits and they've blocked 1,129 attempts from opposing offenses, which is 1st in the league.

Advanced Statistics

The Panthers are 29th in the league in starting possessions in the offensive zone, doing so 48.2% of the time. Their defensive zone percentage is at 51.8% for the season, which is 4th in the NHL. They have 2,072 face-off wins compared to 1,996 losses, meaning their face-off win percentage is 50.9%. That is 10th in the league. On defense Florida has 1,281 hits and they have blocked 895 shots from the opposition, which is 29th in the league. Florida is 14th in the NHL in Corsi percentage with 49.7% as they've attempted 3,819 shots on net at full strength while they've given up 3,871 shots on net in the same situations. Their Fenwick percentage of 50.1% ranks 16th as they have 2,983 attempts while they have given up 2,976 shots on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's Canadiens/Panthers NHL game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take Montreal +169

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