Montreal Canadiens at Winnipeg Jets Game 2 odds, picks and prediction
The Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets play Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs second-round series Friday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at Bell MTS Place. Below, we analyze the Canadiens-Jets odds and lines, with NHL picks and predictions.
The Canadiens took Game 1 by a 5-3 score. It was their fourth consecutive victory in the postseason, and their highest-scoring game in these playoffs.
The Jets loss was overshadowed by an ugly incident late in the game. Just as Montreal C Jake Evans scored an empty-netter to seal the victory, he was steamrolled by Winnipeg C Mark Scheifele. Evans was taken off the ice on a stretcher and, a day later, the NHL suspended Scheifele for four games.
Canadiens at Jets: Odds, spread and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports' betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 3:27 a.m. ET.
- Money line : Canadiens +100 (bet $100 to win $100) | Jets -120 (bet $120 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS : Canadiens +1.5 (-275) | Jets -1.5 (+220)
- Over/Under : 5.5 (O: +110 | U: -135)
Canadiens at Jets: Projected starting goalies
Carey Price (12-7-5, 2.64 GAA, .901 SV%, 1 SO) vs. Connor Hellebuyck (24-17-3, 2.58 GAA, .916 SV%, 4 SO). Stats from regular season.
Price stopped 27 of the 30 shots in Game 1. He was staked to a 3-1 lead 17:14 into the first period and never trailed in the game to win his fourth consecutive start.
Hellebuyck wasn't bad, allowing four goals on 32 shots, but he dug himself into an early hole in the opening period and it was too much to overcome. It was his first loss of the postseason after four straight wins in sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.
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Canadiens at Jets: Odds, lines, predictions and picks
Prediction
Jets 3, Canadiens 2
Money line (ML)
The JETS (-120) are going to miss one of their biggest offensive weapons in Scheifele, who is suspended until Game 6 if the series goes that long. Winnipeg will have to find a way to overcome the loss, and will need the likes of RW Blake Wheeler, LW Pierre-Luc Dubois and others to do so.
Winnipeg can ill afford to fall behind 2-0 in the series before the best-of-7 matchup shifts to Montreal Sunday.
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Against the spread (ATS)
The Canadiens +1.5 (-275) will cost you nearly three times your potential return. That's just too expensive. The Jets -1.5 (+220) are not a very attractive play, either, after losing Game 1 and then losing Scheifele to suspension. If they win, it is going to be a lower-scoring, grinder-type game.
AVOID.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 5.5 (-135) was the way to go in Game 1, but someone forgot to tell each of the sides. Montreal was supposed to be tired and Winnipeg was supposed to be rusty, but they totaled eight goals.
Look for a lot more hitting, a lot more tight checking and fewer goals in what could be an emotional, physical battle due to the Evans-Scheifele incident.
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