NHL Hockey Betting: Montreal Canadiens at Los Angeles Kings

The Montreal Canadiens might not exactly be ‘slumping’ but they no longer have the best record in the NHL. They’ll enter play on Sunday with 34 points, one behind the Metro Division leading New York Rangers and the Central division leading Chicago Blackhawks. They’ve also seen their lead atop the Atlantic Division dwindle to just two points over the Ottawa Senators. They’ve got a tough test as they head out West to take on the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are playing their ‘great at home/awful on the road’ routine again this year but they’re 9-3-0 at the Staples Center (as opposed to 4-7-1 on the road). The Habs haven’t exactly been tearing it up away from le Centre Bell with a 4-5-1 record on the road compared to a 12-1-1 record at home.

What’s scary about the Kings recent improvement (6-3-1 L10) is that they’ve been doing it all without injured superstar goalie Jonathan Quick. Peter Budaj has been carrying the freight for the Kings as they await Quick’s return from a groin injury sometime after the new year. Los Angeles has won six of their last seven and will be well rested, having last played on 12/1/16 at Arizona. The Habs have been off since 12/2/16 when they dropped a 2-1 verdict at San Jose. Budaj is expected to get the start here for the home team while Carey Price has been confirmed as the Canadiens’ starter. Price is having a monster yaer with a 13-3-1 record to go with a 1.71 goals against average and a 0.946 save percentage.

It’s not like the Habs have been getting pummelled–their last six losses have all been by a single goal including a pair of 2-1 losses on this road trip. Even good teams will lose games like this throughout the regular season. They’re 1-2 on this trip and have a pair of tough games left with today’s matchup and Tuesday’s game at St. Louis. The Kings may have been overachieving lately and at some point the bounces that have had the Habs losing one goal games will have them winning them again. At any rate, can’t pass up this chance to get Price at such a reasonable price.

BET MONTREAL CANADIENS +100 OVER LOS ANGELES KINGS