Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens: Game Preview, Predictions, Odds, Betting Tips & more | Dec 31, 2023

The Tampa Bay Lightning (17-15-5) will face off against the Montreal Canadiens (15-15-5) at Amalie Arena on Sunday, Dec 31 at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and BSSUN.

Tampa Bay, with a record of 10 wins in 19 games as favorites this season, aims to bounce back from a recent 5-1 home defeat against the New York Rangers on Dec 30. Meanwhile, Montreal looks to recover from a 4-1 loss on the road against the Florida Panthers on the same day.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens: Game preview

The Montreal Canadiens are facing a challenging season, particularly on the offensive front. With only 96 goals scored this season (2.7 per game), they currently rank 28th in the NHL in that category.

In their recent game against the Florida Panthers, they suffered a three-goal defeat with Cole Caufield netting their lone goal. The team's struggles are evident as they average 2.74 goals per game while their defense concedes an average of 3.37.

Despite the overall team performance, goaltender Sam Montembeault has been a bright spot with a .907 SV% and a 2.86 GAA, making 463 saves with 2.1 goals saved above average.

Conversely, in their recent matchup against the New York Rangers, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a tough outing, conceding five goals and suffering a four-goal defeat.

This season, the Lightning's defense has faced challenges, allowing an average of 3.46 goals per game, ranking them 27th in the league.

Despite their defensive struggles, the offense, led by standout player Nikita Kucherov with 59 points in 36 games, is ranked 14th in the league, averaging 3.24 goals per game.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been good, boasting a .907 SV% and a 2.94 GAA, making 410 saves with 1.9 goals saved above average.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens: Head-to-head and significant numbers

1. In a total of 132 games, including regular season and playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning hold an overall record of 69-50-6-7 (54.5%) against the Montreal Canadiens.
2. Specifically in regular season games, the Lightning maintain a 57-43-6-7 (53.1%) record.
3. Notably, the longest winning streak in the history of their matchups spans 8 games, commencing with a 7-1 victory on Oct 13, 2014, and concluding on May 6, 2015, encompassing both regular season and playoffs.
4. The Lightning exhibit a solid penalty kill with a 79.63% success rate (15th in the league), while the Canadiens lag behind with a 71.9% penalty kill percentage (31st in the league).
5. In faceoff, the Canadiens excel, winning 54.2% of faceoffs, 2nd best in the NHL, while the Lightning secure the 7th highest faceoff win percentage in the league at 52%.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens: Odds and prediction

The Tampa Bay Lightning have excelled as favorites this season, winning 10 out of 19 games. In games with odds shorter than -236, they secured a victory once, boasting a 70.2% chance of success in their upcoming match.

On the other hand, the Montreal Canadiens have found success as underdogs, earning 12 wins in 32 games. However, when faced with longer odds of +192 or more, they have struggled, with a 1-8 record, resulting in a win probability of 34.2% in their next game.

The over is at 6.5, which highlights the Lightning's potential to score here. Expect the Lightning to win this one and beat the -1.5 spread.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens: Betting tips

Tip 1: Result: Canadiens to win

Tip 2: Total goals over 6: Yes.

Tip 3: Lightning to beat the spread: Yes"