NHL Saturday: Seattle at Montreal -- Let's See Who's the Best of the Worst
When we looked at this game only a week ago, we thought we'd be holding up our noses staring at two of the league's lowest bottom feeders.
While these two clubs still own the NHL's worst records, turns out, the surprising Canadiens are suddenly one of hockey's hottest teams, so now this matchup has taken a significant turn.
The expansion Seattle Kraken (17-37-6, last in the Pacific) skate into Quebec on a four-game losing streak and a woeful 1-7-2 record in their last ten games. The Montreal Canadiens (15-35-7, last in the Atlantic) somehow found a new sense of purpose over these last few weeks, and it's sure paying off. The Habs are 7-3 in that stretch with impressive victories against Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, and St. Louis -- all teams with winning records.
Hence, Montreal's face-off at home versus the dreadful Kraken appears to be a step down in class and hence a very winnable game.
The betting odds also reflect this. Spreads.ca offers Montreal laying 1.75 as the favourite, with the O/U at 6 goals.
It's worth noting that that is just the second time these two teams have played. The expansion Seattle NHL franchise won the first home game in its history against the Canadiens way back in October of last year.
The puck drops in Montreal on Saturday night at 7:00 pm ET.
OPINION (courtesy of Pointspreads.ca):
The Canadiens are playing with far more energy than we've seen all season and are clearly in better form at the moment.
While the team W-L records reflect parity between these two last-place clubs, Montreal has shown more fight with their 7-3 record in the last 10.
At home, laying a relatively low price, the Habs offer a nice betting value. So, we'll take Montreal here.
