Face-off: 1900 ET, 07/04/2022
Arena: Prudential Center
With both teams already eliminated from the play-offs, there is only pride left to play for when Montreal visit New Jersey.
The Devils have lost their last four matches and have not tasted victory since a shootout win over the Canadiens at the end of last month.
Goals have been hard to come by for each side and it may again take overtime to separate them here.
Let’s go for a draw after 60 minutes at 4.33 in the first of our New Jersey Devils vs Montreal Canadiens predictions.
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New Jersey Devils Odds
The Devils have won just two of their last 10 games and have suffered a further blow with Jack Hughes being shut down for the season.
Hughes will sit out the remainder of the schedule after suffering a low grade MCL sprain of the knee.
Head coach Lindy Ruff admitted losing their star forward would hurt the Devils.
“There’s the good and the bad,” he said. “It’s bad that we’re losing him, but the good news is the injury could have been a lot worse. We’re definitely going to miss him, though.”
New Jersey winger Jesper Bratt knows the Devils need to improve their penalty killing if they are to end the season on a high note.
The New York Rangers scored twice on the powerplay as they recorded a 3-1 win over the Devils last time out.
Bratt said: “We knew they had a good power play and their special teams were better than ours. That was the game changer.”
However, home ice should help the Devils here and 2.35 for New Jersey to win the first period is added to our NHL predictions.
Montreal Canadiens Odds
Montreal were boosted by the return of Brendan Gallagher in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Gallagher had missed eight games and was a welcome boost for the Canadiens, who hope to have defenceman Jeff Petry back soon as well.
Petry has not played since being injured against the Florida Panthers on March 24 but has returned to practice.
Cole Caufield has excelled on a line with Nick Suzuki since being paired by coach Martin St Louis and was quick to praise his teammate.
Caufield said: “This guy just does it all. On the ice, he’s everywhere, he does the right things, he plays in all situations.
“Everybody on our team can look up to a guy like that and respect all the stuff that he does for our team.
“Off the ice, right away we kind of clicked. He does that with everybody. He’s a genuine person, he’s always there for everybody.”
We’re just leaning towards the hosts here, though, so 3.0 for a home win with under 6.5 goals appeals from the New Jersey Devils vs Montreal Canadiens odds.
Additional stats
Last result:
NEW JERSEY 1-3 New York Rangers
MONTREAL 3-6 Ottawa
Season head-to-head: New Jersey 3-2 Montreal, Montreal 1-7 New Jersey
