The Montreal Canadiens haven’t won the Stanley Cup in nearly 30 years, but they’re a win away from getting a shot at ending that drought as they host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night. The Canadiens (35-25-12 SU, 28-38-6 O/U) cruised to a 4-1 win in Game 6 to send the favored Golden Knights (50-19-5 SU, 34-35-5 O/U) to the brink of elimination.
- Date/Time: June 24, 8 p.m. ET
- Arena: Bell Centre
- TV Coverage: NBCSN
- Sportsbook Odds: Golden Knights -135 | O/U 5 (Line History)
- Golden Knights vs Canadiens Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Golden Knights are still the favorites in the eyes of oddsmakers, who installed them at -135 to open and have since shifted that line into the -140 to -150 range. The total is locked at 5, with the OVER at -125 to -130 and the UNDER at +105 to +110.
Vegas News & Notes
The Golden Knights face a major goaltending conundrum entering what could be their final game of the 2020-21 season. Marc-Andre Fleury was sensational for Vegas this season, earning a Vezina Trophy nomination and helping lead the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup semifinals. He has struggled at times in the playoffs, however, and looked uncharacteristically bad in Game 5.
That might prompt head coach Pete DeBoer to go back to Robin Lehner, who was the deciding factor in the Golden Knights’ 2-1 overtime victory in Game 4 that leveled the series at two wins apiece. Lehner turned aside 27 shots in place of Fleury, who has now lost three straight games. Also struggling: forward Mark Stone, who is still looking for his first goal of the series.
Montreal News & Notes
As they did in their first two playoff series, the Canadiens are winning the goaltending battle – and one more victory will send Montreal back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since their last championship in 1993. Carey Price made 26 saves in that pivotal Game 5 road victory and now boasts a 2.13 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in the series.
Even more encouraging from that Game 5 result, Montreal finally saw its offense unleashed, scoring more than three goals in a game for the first time since Game 3 of its second-round sweep of the Winnipeg Jets. The Canadiens are a perfect 10-0 when scoring two or more goals so far this postseason, while managing just four total goals in their five playoff defeats.
Betting Pick: Vegas (-140)
Montreal bettors didn’t think it would be that easy, did they? Even a return to Montreal won’t faze the favored Golden Knights, who should get better goaltending than they did in Game 5.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- Montreal is 7-2 in the last 9 head-to-head meetings.
- Vegas is 6-3 in its past 9 games.
- The UNDER is 5-2 in Vegas’s past 7 road games.
