Pittsburgh Penguins vs Montreal Canadiens Predictions, NHL Picks, Betting Tips 8/5/2020

Game: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Montreal Canadiens

Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Location: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON

TV: NBCSN

Odds/Point Spread: Penguins (-110) Canadiens (-110)

Total/Over-Under: 5.5

Scotiabank Arena is the site where Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9, 5th in the Atlantic Division) will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-6, 3rd in the Metropolitan Division) on Wednesday. The series is tied 1-1. The Canadiens open this contest at -110 while the Penguins are coming in at -110. The over/under is set at 5.5. The Penguins are covering 56.1% of the time, having gone 37-29 SU. The Canadiens are covering 40.3% of the time, going 27-40 straight up.

The Pittsburgh Penguins step onto the ice holding a record of 40 wins and 23 losses, ranking them 3rd in the Metropolitan Division. So far this season, they have racked up a total of 221 goals which puts them at 8th in the Eastern Conference and 13th in the NHL. Their goal differential is +25, ranking them 6th in the NHL. The Penguins have a total of 86 points, which puts them at 7th in the NHL and 5th in the conference. In the matter of shots at the opposition, they have a total of 2,204 which puts them at 8th in the conference and 16th in the NHL. As a team, Pittsburgh currently has a total of 1,754 hits which means they have an average of 25.4 per game. They have a total of 774 blocks for the year. The goalie for Pittsburgh is Matt Murray from Surrey, British Columbia. He is 25 years old and has played 2,238 mins in net for the campaign. Murray is conceding an average of 2.87 goals per game which ranks him 19th among Eastern Conference goalies and 38th among goaltenders in the NHL. For the year, he's allowed 107 goals. He's earned a save % of .899 which ranks him 27th among Eastern Conference goalies.

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The Penguins were on the right side of the scoreboard with a 3 - 1 win against the Canadiens in Game 2. The Penguins offense showed they have some room for improvement in this win. For the game, they finished 3 of the 38 shots they looked to score on. Furthermore, they had 5 power play chances but weren't able to net one. Pittsburgh racked up a total of 8 penalty minutes for this matchup. The Corsi for the Penguins sat at 50 and the Corsi against was 45 which means they earned a Corsi percentage of 52.6%. Their Fenwick sat at 37 and the Fenwick against was 34, meaning they had a Fenwick percentage of 52.1%. They won 26 face-off wins and lost 21 of the face-offs. Their starts in the offensive zone were rated at 63.7% and they had a PDO of 108.7 for this one. Regarding their opponent, the Montreal Canadiens tallied 27 shots. They finished with a total of 14 minutes in the box and they earned 3 power play attempts.

The Canadiens will be the team across the ice and for the current year they have 31 wins and 31 losses. in respect to goal differential, they sit 12th in the conference and 24th in the league with -12. They have a total of 208 goals for the year which ranks them 10th in the East. Montreal has a team save percentage of .900 which currently has them sitting 22nd in the league, which means there should be some chances to score. They have a team shooting percentage of 8.6% which puts them at 14th in the conference. In goal for Montreal is Carey Price who is having an ok season by giving up 2.79 GAA and that places him 17th among Eastern Conference goalies and 34th among goaltenders in the NHL. In the 3,440 minutes he has played this season, he's allowed 160 goals. He holds a save % of .909, which has him placed 18th among Eastern Conference goalies and 37th among goaltenders in the NHL.

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In Game 2 Montreal had a 47.4% Corsi rating. They wound up with that percentage by having a Corsi of 45 and their opponent having a Corsi of 50. Their Fenwick percentage was 47.9% with a Fenwick of 34 and the Penguins having a 37 Fenwick. These Corsi stats tell us the story of the kind of game Montreal had and you can safely assume that they'll look to improve in their next outing. Their PDO at even strength was 91.3 and their oZS percentage was 36.3%. The Canadiens converted 1 goal out of the 27 shots on goal they took. They had 3 power play chances in this outing but weren't able to put one in the back of the net. Regarding the opposition, the Penguins had 5 power play attempts but were not able to take advantage. Montreal gave way to 38 shots on goal and the Penguins racked up 8 minutes in the box.

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

Guy's Pick: Take Pittsburgh (-110)

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