The NHL’s Conference Finals have not quite gone as expected. But that is the beauty of it. Colorado was 8-1 entering their series and finds themselves down 3-0. Carolina was a flawless 8-0 entering this series, and they had to scratch and claw just to even it going into Montreal. Now with the Canadiens stealing home-ice advantage in a remaining best of 5, truly anything can happen.
I have picked out my Hurricanes vs Canadiens Same Game Parlay picks for Game 3 on Monday, May 25, with lines and odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing. Also, be sure to check out our NHL predictions for the game tonight and EVERY game throughout the playoffs.
Canadiens ML (+114)
Cole Caufield over 2.5 shots (-115)
Both teams to score 2+ goals (-185)
Hurricanes vs Canadiens Same Game Parlay odds: +380
Montreal Canadiens ML over Carolina Hurricanes (+114)
Despite having played 6 more games than the Hurricanes in these playoffs and having 6 more losses, there is an argument to be made that the Canadiens have proven more. With all due respect to the Senators and Flyers, the Hurricanes did not face much adversity to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the Canadiens had to go through the Lightning and Sabres, both of whom were a couple of the best teams in the NHL this year. This Montreal team is battle-tested and dealt Carolina a heavy blow to start this series.
With the series knotted up at 1-1, the Canadiens are now 4-0-1 this year against the Hurricanes between the regular season and playoffs. The total score head to head is 23-13 for an average final of 4.6-2.6 in favor of the Canadiens. With 5 games played, that is more than just a fluke. It is a trend, even with the turning of the page from the regular season to the playoffs. The Canadiens are a very good hockey team and they gave the Hurricanes everything they could handle in their own barn. Now, it’s the Canadiens that have home-ice advantage for games 3-4. They have struggled at home of late and have made it known that needs to change. Look for a strong effort from a good Canadiens team at home to take the series lead against a team they have beaten plenty this year.
Cole Caufield over 2.5 shots (-115)
After a quiet start to the playoffs, Cole Caufield has turned things on lately. He needs to if the Canadiens are going to continue to have success. Entering Monday, Caufield has 2 points in his last 2 games as part of 7 points in his last 7 games. He has tallied 3+ shots in 4 out of those 7 games and averaged 2.7 shots on goal during that stretch. In a game in which the Hurricanes are expected to throw the kitchen sink at the Canadiens, the game plan of Montreal should be one that is rather steady and simple. Among other key factors, minimize high-percentage chances of the opponent and get pucks on net. That suits Cole Caufield rather well.
This year was already the 5th full season in the NHL for Cole Caufield. The hockey world knew this was a good player, but he turned up the dial even more for a career year. He scored 51 goals and had 88 points to go along with 3.19 shots on goal, a +29 rating, and 18:11 of average ice-time per game. To say this is a productive player would be an understatement. Caufield is a mainstay on Montreal’s top line, currently with Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, as well as the top power play with those guys plus Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson. His line had 262 points in 245 games during the regular season, and has 39 points in 48 games this postseason. Montreal has a productive first line and Caufield is a key contributor. Whether he gets on the board or not, taking him to tally 3+ shots on goal does not exactly feel like taking a flyer.
Both teams to score 2+ goals (-185)
This series has already seen both a high-scoring game and a low-scoring game. Both teams have scored 2+ goals in the first 2 games of this series, and in 4 out of the 5 played head to head this year. The only outlier was a Canadiens 3-1 win over the Hurricanes in March. Even with that low-scoring game, the average game total between these teams this year is 7.2 goals. The pure matchup of these teams bodes well for high totals. Even if the over does not hit, there is a good chance for both teams to score 2+ goals, as evident by game 2’s 3-2 final score.
The over has hit in 6 out of Montreal’s last 9 games as part of a 52-43-3 over under record on the year, including 25-21-1 at home. While this is not a game totals pick, that illustrates that the Canadiens are susceptible to giving up goals at home, but also being strong enough on the offensive side of the puck to keep up in a high-scoring game. They are allowing 3.17 goals per game at home this postseason, and have allowed over 2 goals per game to Carolina this year. Despite that, this Montreal team has found themselves in the Conference Finals and having played great against a strong Carolina team. Both teams will play more desperately as the series progresses. Monday night should be no different. They will each play with plenty of urgency to run up the score to take a pivotal game 3.
Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources and never miss a story
