Carolina Hurricanes vs Montreal Canadiens Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/24/26

The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t been experiencing the tension of the Eastern Conference playoff race from their perch atop the Metropolitan Division. It has been a relatively smooth ride for Rod Brind’Amour’s squad for most of the season, and their recent 7-3-0 stretch has them back 10 points clear of the second-place team. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens are third in the Atlantic Division, but their playoff spot is far from confirmed, with just 2 points sitting between them and the last wild card.

The race is so tight that a Canadiens loss on Tuesday and wins from the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and New York Islanders could knock Montreal out of a playoff spot. With three of those teams having favorable games on their schedule while the Canadiens play the conference’s best team, there is some reason for concern.

Everyone is riding the Canadiens’ hype train after their exciting win over the Islanders on Saturday, but they’ve been just average over the last 10 games with a 5-4-1 record. Montreal has been beating the teams it needs to beat around them in the standings, but the Hurricanes present a different challenge. Their offense has been rolling as of late, with three consecutive games with 4+ goals, and the Canadiens are projected to start Jakub Dobes, who has lost 2 of his past 3 games with less-than-inspiring performances.

This game could be a high-scoring one if recent results for these teams are any indication, but expect the Hurricanes to throw another wrench into the playoff race in this game and make the standings on the bubble even tighter.

Hurricanes vs Canadiens prediction: Hurricanes ML (-135) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.