Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers Prediction: Paul Maurice's wards still have tournament motivation

Prediction for the NHL Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers match which will take place on April 3rd. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

Montreal is again the league's underdog, not destined to contend for a playoff spot. We all remember that the Canadiens played in the Stanley Cup Final not too long ago, but things went downhill for them after that, and they still can't turn things around. The young and ambitious team is gaining experience, but the problems are compounded by numerous injuries to leading hockey players who were out of action during the regular season. Nevertheless, the St. Louis Martens were in good shape, beating Seattle 5:1, Colorado 2:1, Philadelphia 4:1, and Carolina 3:0 in their last four games. That's good enough for 15th place in the Eastern Conference.

Florida is a much more experienced, skilled, and successful team, but the South has earned all those adjectives over the past year. They had modest results before, but they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, and then they believed in themselves and produced a very strong current regular season. The Panthers were sluggish at the beginning of the championship due to the short offseason, but now they are among the league leaders. Paul Maurice's squad slowed down again, which can be attributed to systematic preparation for the start of cup battles in April.

Montreal and Florida are two very different teams right now. This can be seen in the Eastern Conference standings, where the Canadiens are in the penultimate place and the Panthers are in the leader group. In addition, statistics speak in favor of the South. Only they won in the last seven consecutive meetings. Here and in the upcoming battle, Paul Maurice's wards are unconditional favorites, and they still have tournament motivation, as it is crucial for them to get the highest place in the playoffs.

The confrontation between Montreal and Florida has been a high-scoring affair in recent years. Just a few years ago, the Canadiens defeated their opponent 10:2, after which the South got angry and scored 40 goals in the next seven meetings (averaging 5.71 per game), an impressive statistic. The opponents have combined for 93 goals (8.45 average per game) in the last 11 games, which is reason to expect an open and productive battle.