Blackhawks vs Canadiens Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

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14 October 2023

Blackhawks vs Canadiens Picks, Predictions & Odds Tonight

Connor Bedard has hit the ground running (ice skating?) since his NHL debut and now gets to face the Habs' porous defense and goaltending. While neither team is particularly strong on the blue line, see why we like Bedard & Co. in our betting picks.

Photo By - USA TODAY Sports

The opening week of the 2023-24 NHL season continues to roll on Saturday as the Montreal Canadiens host the Chicago Blackhawks.

Playing in opposite conferences, these teams only squared off twice last year as Montreal won each outing.

Will the Canadiens take care of business once again, or can the Blackhawks pull off their second upset against NHL odds of the young season? Find out in our free NHL picks for Blackhawks vs Canadiens on Saturday, October 14.

Blackhawks vs Canadiens odds

Blackhawks vs Canadiens predictions

The Chicago Blackhawks have started off the season in fine form, upsetting the Pittsburgh Penguins on opening night and then hanging tough against the reigning President Trophy winners, ultimately dropping Wednesday’s contest to the Boston Bruins 3-1.

Now, the Hawks still have their problems. The offense almost completely runs through rookie Connor Bedard and the blue line remains leaky. With that said, this team already looks better than last season's edition and has gotten some great goaltending thus far.

Slated to get the start between the pipes for Chicago is Petr Mrazek, who stopped 38 of 40 pucks in the win against Pittsburgh. Mrazek has quietly been reliable for Chicago when you look at how he ended last season.

Over his past 16 appearances, he owns a .914 SV%. While I am not high on this team being very competitive as a whole, the combination of good goaltending and a Bedard-led offense is enough to pull off the occasional upset, which is what we are going to target at plus money against an equally poor Montreal Canadiens team.

The Habs took advantage of an abysmal outing from Ilya Samsonov in their season-opening loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, earning a point as they lost 6-5 in a shootout. Samsonov saved –2.34 goals above expected, and I don’t expect Mrazek to have the same type of meltdown.

Montreal has a similar roster construction to Chicago: a top-heavy forward group that lacks depth and is backed up by an extremely leaky blue line. Last season, the Habs finished even lower (second to last) than the Hawks in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) at 5-on-5.

So, both blue lines are poor and the Habs are a bit deeper offensively but don’t feature anyone on Bedard’s level. Add in the fact that the clearest advantage for either team in this game is in net, which goes to Chicago, then the Hawks are worth backing in this spot at plus money.

My best bet: Blackhawks moneyline (+120 at SIA)

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Blackhawks vs Canadiens same-game parlay

Blackhawks ML

Connor Bedard anytime goal

One reason the clearest advantage in this matchup can be found in net is that Sam Montembeault will be making his season debut for Montreal tonight.

Montembeault has a sub-.900 save percentage for his career and has never been able to get it going. It certainly doesn't help his cause that he’s spent the past two years behind one of the worst and most inexperienced defenses in hockey.

That brings us to Bedard, who has already cemented himself as the best skater on Chicago’s roster and has shown a relentless tenacity to shoot the puck at will. He has a goal and an assist through the first two games while averaging north of five shots and 21 minutes on the ice.

If he can score on Boston’s blue line and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, then he can certainly score against the Habs with such a large quantity of chances created.

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Blackhawks vs Canadiens moneyline and Over/Under analysis

The Canadiens opened as a -144 favorite and have since been bet down to -140. I think this line will continue to shrink for two reasons as we get closer to puck drop.

First, the Bedard hype is going to naturally bring in money. Secondly, both teams are equally poor and this line should be closer to a pick ‘em with perhaps a five-to-ten-cent edge to Montreal for playing on home ice and traveling less this week.

That brings us to the total, which opened at 6.5 and remains at that number. There are plenty of goal-scorers in the top six for each side and both teams give up high-danger scoring chances at a high rate, so I doubt this line moves off this number.