Game 39: Montreal Canadiens @ Dallas Stars Lines, Betting Preview

The Montreal Canadiens (7-25-5, 19 pts), will try to snap a six-game losing skid when they play the Stars (18-15-2, 38 pts) in Dallas on Tuesday night (8:30 PM, TSN2, RDS, BSSW).

The Montreal Canadiens are now 0-4-2 during this winless streak and haven’t won in regulation since a 6-3 win over the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Nov. 27. They are now 1-9-3 since that loss to the Penguins. The Habs are now the worst team in the NHL.

The Stars come into this game against the Montreal Canadiens on a two-game losing streak. However, those two losses were on the road where the Stars are a completely different team so far at 4-12-1. In the friendly confines of American Airlines Arena, the Stars are 14-3-1.

Sam Montembeault is expected to get the start after relieving Cayden Primeau in the 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. He stopped all six shots he faced in the third period Monday and is now 1-6-3 with a 3.78 GAA and .897 save percentage.

Jake Oettinger is expected to get the nod between the pipes for the Stars. Oettinger is 9-3-0 with a 2.47 GAA and a .915 save percentage.

Betting Predictions

As expected the Montreal Canadiens are heavy underdogs tonight at +275 but as mentioned above, the Stars are much better at home so there’s a reason for that value you get betting the Habs. The bet here though is on the over 1.5 (-125) in the first period. As for the game?

Prediction: Stars 6 Canadiens 3

Montreal Canadiens Notes

-The Montreal Canadiens hired Beaconsfield, QC native Kent Hughes as their new general manager on Tuesday.

-The Montreal Canadiens placed forwards Joel Armia and Cole Caufield in NHL COVID Protocol on Tuesday. Both players are unavailable to play tonight.

-The Montreal Canadiens will be without goalie Jake Allen for at least a week after Allen left in the first period of the 5-1 loss to the Bruins last Wednesday with an undisclosed injury. As a result, goalie Cayden Primeau was recalled from the Laval Rocket last week. Primeau struggled in his first game since being recalled as he was pulled after the second period of the loss to the Coyotes Monday after allowing four goals on 16 shots.

-Forward Brendan Gallagher (lower-body) is about one-two weeks away, Tyler Toffoli (hand) is getting closer, defencemen Joel Edmundson (Personal, COVID) is back in Montreal, Carey Price (torn meniscus) remains out indefinitely and has a long way to go, and Shea Weber, essentially retired after offseason foot surgery are all out.

-Habs center Nick Suzuki leads the team in points with 19. He is tied for the team lead in goals (7) with Anderson and for the team lead in assists (12).

-New Montreal Canadiens forward Rem Pitlick, who was claimed on waivers from the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 12, scored his first goal as a Hab in just his second game with the team on Monday. Pitlick now has seven goals and five assists in 22 games (21 with the Wild and one with the Canadiens)

Dallas Stars Notes

-Stars defenseman John Klingberg is maybe the biggest name on the NHL trade market right now and there are plenty of teams interested.

-Former Montreal Canadiens winger Alex Radulov has a goal and 11 assists in 31 games for the Stars this season.

-Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz are tied for the team lead in goals with 15. Pavelski leads the team in assists with 21 and points with 36.

Montreal Canadiens Lines:

Forwards:

Jonathan Drouin-Rem Pitlick-Josh Anderson

Tylker Toffoli-Nick Suzuki-Jake Evans

Michael Pezzetta-Ryan Poehling-Artturi Lehkonen

Laurent Dauphin – Christian Dvorak – Mike Hoffman

Defense:

Ben Chiarot-David Savard

Alexander Romanov-Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak-Chris Wideman

Goalies:

Sam Montembeault

Cayden Primeau

Dallas Stars Lines

Forwards:

Jacob Peterson – Roope Hintz – Joe Pavelski

Denis Guarianov – Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin

Michael Raffl – Radek Faksa – Luke Glendenning

Rhett Gardner – Riley Damiani – Joel Kiviranta

Defense:

Ryan Suter – Miro Heiskanen

Esa Lindell – John Klingberg

Joel Hanley – Jani Hakanpaa

Goalies:

Jake Oettinger

Braden Holtby