The Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens meet in Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference Finals tonight with puck drop set for 8:00 p.m. EDT at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. The game will be broadcast live on TNT.
After two consecutive games with Carolina winning in overtime, the Hurricanes are favored by -1.5 on the puck line, with the over/under set at 5.5 (-114o / -106u). The Hurricanes are a -152 favorite to win outright, while the Canadiens are +126 to pull off the upset.
Let's get into my Hurricanes vs. Canadiens prediction and NHL picks.
Carolina Hurricanes vs Montreal Canadiens Prediction, Picks
- Hurricanes vs Canadiens Pick: Under 5.5
My best bet for Hurricanes vs. Canadiens is on the under. For updated odds, visit our NHL odds page.
Hurricanes vs. Canadiens Odds, Pick
| Hurricanes Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 +158 | 5.5 -114o / -106u | -152 |
| Canadiens Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -196 | 5.5 -114o / -106u | +126 |
- Hurricanes vs. Canadiens Spread: Hurricanes -1.5 (+158), Canadiens +1.5 (-196)
- Hurricanes vs. Canadiens Over/Under: 5.5 (-114o / -106u)
- Hurricanes vs. Canadiens Moneyline: Hurricanes -152, Canadiens +126
Hurricanes vs Canadiens NHL Polymarket Odds
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Hurricanes vs. Canadiens Preview
Carolina Hurricanes Betting Preview
Based on how these playoffs have gone, one would think that the Hurricanes are the ideal team to run with to win the Stanley Cup.
Everything has gone their way, from sweeping the two series, to getting two timely overtime goals against Montreal.
One of the concerns that I’ve always had, though, about Carolina was its goaltending, but throughout the first two rounds, Freddie Andersen played elite.
Against Ottawa and Philadelphia, Andersen played to a .950 SV%, however, against Montreal, that number slipped way down to an abysmal .813 SV%. So if there’s any way the Hurricanes make a run at the Stanley Cup, they’ll need him to be back in the mode he was in the first two rounds.
I’m hardly concerned with Carolina’s 5-on-5 play. It’s been the top team in expected goals all playoffs, and leads all active teams in expected goals against.
This is a well-oiled machine with a solid defense led by Jaccob Slavin, K’Andre Miller and Jalen Chatfield. Beyond that, the line of Taylor Hall-Logan Stankoven-Jackson Blake has arguably been the best line in all of the playoffs, as they’ve combined for 33 points.
Montreal Canadiens Betting Preview
It feels like wherever the Canadiens go, chaos ensues.
The first two series went seven games, and now in the Eastern Conference Finals, two of the three games played have gone into overtime.
This has been huge, though, because no one has played the Hurricanes like this in these playoffs, and Montreal has been the only team to give the Canes a loss in the postseason.
It’s no secret that I have fallen in love with this team. I doubled down on them in my Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe picks and aside from being loaded with star-studded talent across the board, the Habs have backed it up with exceptional goalie play.
Jakub Dobes has been the star of these playoffs, playing like quite literally the best goaltender in the playoffs. Besides his solid .911 SV%, he’s posting a league-leading 12.6 GSAx.
Montreal has needed him to play at a high level because its 5-on-5 play has failed him a little. It’s played to a 45.42 xGF% and is last in expected goals against.
The Habs' star players in Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson have done a great job at masking their flaws on ice, but Dobes has been the key cog to this run.
Hurricanes vs. Canadiens Pick
This has been a rather unpredictable series, just because the Canadiens aren’t like any team the Canes have faced.
Goaltending has been unstoppable and the stars have shone.
But here’s the thing: as we’ve seen all postseason, the Canes are incredibly hard to beat, and Montreal has had a hard time generating a sustainable offense.
It managed to take advantage of a vulnerable Andersen in three games, but that’s no way to play, because you never know when he’s going to wake up.
I think we manage to see a whole lot of what we saw in Games 2 and 3. Tight checking with a nice dose of defense.
The one wild card is Andersen.
Montreal will have to perform as it has over the past two games, where it only combined for 25 shots on goal, for this trend to continue, because in those 25 shots, Andersen has let up four goals.
If he regains back to form, I think this is a bet worth sweating over.
Pick: Under 5.5 (-102u, FanDuel)
