Lane Hutson has found the scoresheet in almost 70% of his game this year, and he'll add another to the pile this afternoon.
NHL
The Montreal Canadiens have dropped seven of their past eight games. They’ll look to stop the bleeding and head into the break on a positive note by getting a result against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday afternoon.
My Lightning vs. Canadiens predictions expect a high-scoring matchup in the cards, with standout rookie Lane Hutson shining along the way.
Let’s break things down further with my NHL picks for February 9.
My Canadiens pick
Lane Hutson Over 0.5 points (-115 at BET99)
My Canadiens analysis
Lane Hutson has been one of the most prolific offensive defensemen in the sport for months now.
After a somewhat quiet start to his rookie campaign, Hutson took off and never looked back. He has points in 23 of his past 33 games, good for a whopping 69% success rate.
Josh Morrissey, Adam Fox, Victor Hedman, Rasmus Dahlin, and Roman Josi are just a few of the star blueliners who’ve been outpaced by Hutson the past few months.
The good times should continue for him this afternoon as the Tampa Bay Lightning play a high-event, high-paced brand of hockey that will lend itself nicely to Hutson’s skillset.
Andrei Vasilevskiy has started six consecutive games and was tested with 37 shots on goal Saturday. It seems likely the Lightning will opt to rest Vasilevskiy in this game in favor of AHL journeyman Brandon Halverson.
Even if they don’t, Vasilevskiy is not quite the goaltender he once was. He’s allowed at least three goals in seven of his last 11 games and only managed an .864 SV% the last time he faced the Montreal Canadiens.
The Lightning have allowed 3.2 goals per game on the road this season, tying them with the Calgary Flames for 11th most in the NHL.
Montreal should be able to score in this one and, odds are, their super rookie will find a way to get involved.
Lane Hutson Over 0.5 points
Cole Caufield Over 0.5 points
Nikita Kucherov anytime goalscorer
Cole Caufield has consistently been an offensive force for the Habs this season. Only twice since early November has Caufield gone back-to-back games without finding the scoresheet. He almost always rebounds after just one quiet offensive performance — and the New Jersey Devils blanked him on Saturday.
Caufield has also fared very well in back-to-back situations, hitting the scoresheet on Day 2 in seven of 10 tries. He should be able to do so again in what figures to be a high-scoring matchup (the total sits at 6.5).
Nikita Kucherov is a Canadiens killer. He has scored in both meetings this season and five straight dating back to last year. He should cause real problems for a Habs team that slots 31st in expected goals allowed over the last 10 games.
Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.
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Odds courtesy of BET99
Lane Hutson has nine points over his last 10 home games. Find more NHL betting trends for Canadiens vs. Lightning.
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Todd Cordell is a data-driven betting analyst. He uses numbers to help identify value across a wide variety of sports, with NHL being his specialty. Shot props, in particular, have proven to be a very fruitful market. Todd has served as a betting analyst in the public sphere for many years, most recently with theScore covering the NHL and MLB.
When not writing about sports betting, Todd stays busy analyzing the New Jersey Devils with a fine-tooth comb for InfernalAccess, his Devils-centric blog. Todd attended Sheridan College and graduated in 2014 with a diploma in print journalism.
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