It is an all-Canadian battle in the NHL as the Ottawa Senators face the Montreal Canadiens. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Senators-Canadiens prediction and pick.
The Senators enter the game sitting at 1-0 on the year. They opened up against the Panthers, and Tim Stutzle opened the scoring on the power play just 5:52 into the game. The Senators would make it 2-0 at the end of the first and go on to win the game 3-1. Meanwhile, Montreal is 1-1 on the year. They opened up the year by shutting down the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning the game 1-0. Still, they would have to travel and play the next night against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens scored first on the power play, but Boston would tie it on their own power-play goal. Boston would go on to win 6-4
Here are the Senators-Canadiens NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NHL Odds: Senators-Canadiens Odds
Ottawa Senators: -1.5 (+158)
Moneyline: -156
Montreal Canadiens: +1.5 (-192)
Moneyline: +130
Over: 6.5 (+102)
Under: 6.5 (-124)
How To Watch Senators vs Canadiens
Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT
TV: ESPN+
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why the Senators Could Cover the Spread/Win
The Ottawa Senators will be returning their top line from last year. Brady Tkachuk leads the line. Last year he led the team with 37 goals, while also having 37 assists. Further, he led the team with 74 total assists and already has his first of the year in the first game. Brady Tkachuk had 12 goals and 10 assists on the power play as well. He will be joined by Tim Stutzle. Stutzle was second on the team while leading the team in assists. Stutzle had 18 goals and 52 assists last year, for a total of 70 points. He scored twice in the first game of the year. Rounding out the line is Claude Giroux. Giroux had 21 goals and 43 assists last year.
Drake Batherson will be leading the second line. He was third on the team in points last year. Batherson had 28 goals and 38 assists last year. He also had seven goals and 15 assists on the power play last year. The Senators will be without their top defender from last year, Jakob Chychurn, who left in the offseason. Still, they have his blue-line partner back in Jake Sanderson. Sanderson had a plus-eight rating, having ten goals and 28 assists. He already has an assist this year.
Linus Ullmark will be back in goal for the Senators in this one. He was 22-10-7 last year with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. He was tenth in goals against average and seventh in save percentage. In the first game of the year, he stopped 30 of 31 shots to take the win.
Why the Canadiens Could Cover the Spread/Win
The Canadiens return their top line from last year featuring Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky. Suzuki led the team in points and goals last year. He has 33 goals, 44 assists, and 77 total points. Suzuki does not have a point this year and has a -1 rating. Cole Caufield was second on the team in points last year. He has 28 goals, 37 assists, and 65 total points. Caufield comes in with two goals on the year already. Slafkovsky rounds out the top line. He had 20 goals and 30 assists for a total of 50 points, good for fourth on the team. He has added an assist already this year.
Alex Newhook returns to the second line for the Canadiens. He played just 55 games last year but has 15 goals, 19 assists, and a total of 34 points. He will be joined by Kirby Dach. Dach played just two games last year, with two assists. He has already played twice this year, coming away with an assist. Mike Matheson also returns at the blue line for the Canadiens. He played in all 82 games last year, having 11 goals and 51 assists last year. He also had five goals and 23 assists on the power play.
Sam Montembeault is expected to be in goal for this one. Montembeault was amazing in the first game of the year. He stopped all 48 shots he faced to take the shutout victory. That was his first shutout since the 2021-22 season when he had a shutout on 32 shots against the Sabres in February of 2022. His 48 saves were the most since January of 2022 when he stopped 49 of 53 shots in an overtime loss to the Golden Knights.
Final Senators-Canadiens Prediction & Pick
The odds in this second game of the NHL season favor the Senators. This game will come down to goaltending. Sam Montembeault is coming off one of the best performances of his career, and his history shows he will be prime to repeat. Still, Linus Ullmark was also solid in his first start and is consistently solid at the start of the season. Expect a low-scoring game, but the Senators, with their better firepower, take the win in this one.
Final Senators-Canadiens Prediction & Pick: Senators ML (-156)