Colorado Avalanche vs Montreal Canadiens - Odds and Predictions

Where: Bell Centre – Montreal, PQ., Canada

When: Thursday, December 5, 7 PM EST

How (TV/Radio): TSN2, RDS, Alti | WFAN

Colorado Avalanche (Away)

Head Coach: Jared Bednar{All-Time 119-124-29 COL}

The Colorado Avalanche are riding high as they regained the services of forward Mikko Rantanen this week. Rantanen scored four points in his return game and the Avalanche have won their last three games in a row.

Offense

One of the NHL’s most dangerous lines is two-thirds of the way back as Mikko Rantanen rejoined Nathan MacKinnon on Colorado’s top line. Rantanen had missed most of November due to injury. Rantanen has 16 points in 10 games this season and MacKinnon ranks fifth in league scoring with 42 points.

The Avs are one of the lowest shooting teams in the league, ranking 24th in total shots. With that said, they make those shots matter as the team’s shooting percentage is tied with the Washington Capitals for the league’s best. They have a team shooting percentage of 11.6 percent.

That shooting percentage has translated into 97 goals total for a team that missed a month with two of their best players on the sidelines. Those 97 goals rank them third in the NHL.

However, the Avs need to step things up on the faceoff front. With only a 47.7 faceoff win percentage, the Avalanche rank 28th in the league. This is where the absence of captain Gabriel Landeskog is really felt.

Defense

Colorado has had its struggles on defense this season. For starters, they spend too much time on the penalty kill. The Avs average ten minutes in penalty time per game.

Because of this, the Avalanche rank 20th in the league when on the penalty kill. They has mustered only a 78.41 penalty-killing percent so far this season.

Goaltending has been solid for Colorado this season though. The team has the ninth-best save percentage in the league. They’ve allowed the 11th-fewest shots against and have had the seventh-fewest goals scored against them.

Goaltending

Goaltender Pavel Francouz is expected to get the nod in net for the Avs Thursday night against the Habs. Francouz has a season record of 5-2-0. His goals-against average sits at 2.48 and he has a .924 save percentage.

Head Coach: Claude Julien{All-Time 639-419-10-145 MTL, BOS, NJD}

The Montreal Canadiens finally snapped an eight-game losing streak Tuesday night and did so against one of the league’s best teams – the New York Islanders. They hope to carry that momentum into their game against another of the league’s most dangerous teams.

Offense

Believe it or not, the Montreal Canadiens are actually one of the highest shooting teams in the league. Ranked second in the NHL, the Habs have taken upwards of 984 shots on net so far this year.

The Habs also rank highly in combined goals. Montreal has scored 91 goals this season – the eighth-most in the league. But considering their high shooting volume, the Canadiens only rank 20th in the league with a 9.2 shooting percentage.

When it comes to the power play, Montreal sits in the middle of the pack at 16th. They have an 18.75 power-play percentage this season.

Their faceoff percentage also ranks in the middle of the league at 16th. The Habs sit under 50 percent in the faceoff circle, having a 49.8 face-off percentage.

Defense

Montreal has been a mixed bag when it comes to defense this season. Montreal takes very little penalties, averaging only 6 minutes per game. However, they struggle to kill them off. Montreal has the second-worst penalty-killing rate in the league this season with a 74.12 percent.

The team’s goaltending has also been rather lackluster this year. Montreal’s goaltenders have a combined save percentage of .891 – good for seventh-worst in the league.

They have also allowed more goals against than they have scored, allowing a total of 97 goals. Twenty-two of those have come when trying to kill penalties. They have allowed the third-most power-play goals.

Goaltending

Montreal veteran goaltender Carey Price is expected to get the start Thursday. Price’s record so far this season sits at 11-9-3. He has a GAA of 3.13 and a .899 save percentage. He has one shutout this season.

The last time these two teams met was last season on January 12. The Montreal Canadiens pulled off the victory, shutting out the Avalanche with a final score of 3-0.

This is a chance for Montreal to carry over the momentum from one of their biggest wins of the season and make it two wins in a row over another skilled team.

The season is still young enough that the Canadiens can still definitely string some wins together and move into playoff contention.

Questions to Answer

How big of a role will injuries play in this matchup? The Montreal Canadiens are without top-forward Jonathan Drouin and the Colorado Avalanche are still without their captain Gabriel Landeskog.

Will Montreal be able to overcome the offense of the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night or will the combination of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen prove to be too much for them?

Will the Avalanche be able to contain the Montreal Canadiens to extend their winning streak and win their fourth game in a row?

Colorado Avalanche Injury Report

F Colin Wilson – DL (lower-body)

D Erik Johnson – DL (lower-body)

F Matt Calvert – DL (concussion)

F Gabriel Landeskog – DL (lower-body)

F Andre Burakovsky – day-to-day (upper-body)

Montreal Canadiens Injury Report

F Paul Byron – DL (knee)

F Jonathan Drouin – DL (wrist)

D Victor Mete – DL (ankle)

Colorado Avalanche vs Montreal Canadiens Odds

The latest odds for the Colorado Avalanche vs the Montreal Canadiens are provided by bet365 NJ, SugarHouse NJ, and 888sport NJ.

Good Luck!

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