Montreal Canadiens vs Tampa Bay Lightning Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/21/26

The Montreal Canadiens secured a 4-3 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of this series. In a contest that featured 7 total goals, Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky and Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel accounted for 5 of them. Slafkovsky recorded a hat trick that culminated in the game-winner for Montreal, while Hagel scored 2 of Tampa Bay’s 3 goals on the night. It would be a bit surprising to see multiple players with multiple goals again in Game 2.

Both the Lightning and Canadiens were undisciplined defensively, as a total of 10 power plays occurred in Game 1. Both Tampa Bay and Montreal took advantage of those opportunities, as they combined to go 5-for-10 on the man advantage. With that in mind, I expect both teams to come out more fundamentally sound defensively and actively looking to avoid the penalty box. That could especially be true for the Lightning after seeing Slafkovsky pot all 3 of his goals on the power play. After 7 goals were scored in the series-opener, look for ice space to be a bit more limited and scoring chances to be at more of a premium this time around.

Canadiens vs Lightning prediction: Under 6 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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