Montreal Canadiens vs Carolina Hurricanes Prediction: They are on entirely different levels

Prediction for the NHL Montreal Canadiens vs Carolina Hurricanes match which will take place on March 31st. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

This season, Montreal again plays the role of the league's hopeless underdog, which does nothing to solve their global tournament problems. Martin St. Louis has a young and promising gang that will be able to compete for higher places in the foreseeable future, but so far, they lack experience and skill. At the same time, the Canadiens were able to improve all of them at the end of the regular season, which allowed them to beat Seattle 5:1, Colorado 2:1, and Philadelphia 4:1 in their last three games. Despite the three-game winning streak, the Canadiens remain in 15th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Carolina is one of the leading contenders for the Stanley Cup this season. In recent years, the Hurricanes have been consistently good in the regular season, only to fall short in the playoffs. Now, after a series of painful Cup losses, the Hurricanes have gained much-needed experience and are ready to compete for the coveted trophy. Rod Brindamore's men are in great shape: in their last nine games, they have been held scoreless only once, a 4:1 loss to Pittsburgh, a 6:7 shootout loss to Washington, and seven wins. That is enough for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal and Carolina are on entirely different levels. This is most evident in the standings, where the Canadiens occupy the penultimate spot in the Eastern Conference, and the Hurricanes are second. The head-to-head statistics also favor the Canadiens, who have won their last eight meetings. In addition, the Raleigh team is still in contention for the President's Trophy, awarded to the strongest team at the end of the regular season.

Montreal and Carolina's confrontation has not been very productive lately. In the last 12 meetings, the two teams have combined to score just 61 goals (an average of 5.08 per game), which is modest by NHL standards. The Canadiens scored just 19 goals in their last four games (4.75 goals per game), while the Hurricanes scored 12 in their previous three games (4.00 goals per game).