Hey there! If you remember gambling content on Deadspin from years ago, it was probably me who penned it. I’m back!
And perhaps apropos, I come to you with a thrilling Sharks-Canadiens encounter from this lengthy Thursday hockey slate. We need something to keep us busy until baseball season commences, am I right?
Let’s analyze what I like about this total.
Well, for starters, we’ll likely have Sam Montembeault minding the net for Montreal. In years past, the 28-year-old goaltender wouldn’t elicit such a positive reaction from Canadiens fans and bettors alike, but times have changed this season.
Montembeault is having the best season of his life. The 2.90 goals-against average he currently holds would decisively be the best such mark he’s ever posted if it ends there at season’s end, while the .899 save percentage he wields is right around the best mark of his career (.903 last year).
Furthermore, Montembeault already has more wins (20) than he’s ever had in one campaign. Not only that, he’s tied for the second-most shutouts in the NHL with four — including one in his most recent outing two days ago against Carolina.
Montembeault clearly is feeling good right now, and we’ll hope his excellent play since the Four Nations Face-Off break continues into this one.
Helping our cause will be the matchup, as the Sharks have scored fewer goals this year (151) than all but two clubs in the league. Oh, and they’re ranked dead last in the standings with a mere 38 points. Bleh.
As for San Jose’s goaltending situation, well, it’s not pretty either. Alexander Georgiev was once a very promising youngster in the New York Rangers organization and performed well there for years as the backup. Since that tenure, however, he’s been largely inconsistent.
In fact, he’s been underachieving so much that he was shipped midseason from Colorado to San Jose only a couple of months ago for another goalie. Somehow, Georgiev has been even worse in his new digs compared to the Avalanche, evidenced by the ugly 3.94 GAA he’s strung together in his 15 games (14 starts) with the Sharks.
As of press time, it is not known who will be in net for the NHL’s cellar dwellers. Perhaps it’ll be the recently returned-from-injury Vitek Vanecek, who is coming off a sensational effort in his own right when he almost beat the NHL’s best team.
That performance came on Monday evening, when Vanecek stopped 33 of 35 shots in Winnipeg. He even had a shutout going late in the third, but unfortunately, the Jets knotted it 1-1 on a goal with 26 seconds left before winning in overtime.
Maybe Vanecek gets rewarded with another start. And why not? The Sharks have no idea who their goalie of the future is. Vanecek at least is making a better claim for the starting job than Georgiev is.
Montreal has a pair of talented playmakers on its first line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Even if they do supply some damage, I have confidence Montembeault will craft his usual solid work at home to help pace a lower-scoring affair.
Montembeault has played considerably better this season at the Bell Centre than on the road, and in the process, the Canadiens have produced a 17-12-1 record for the under in their 30 home games.
Pick: UNDER 6 (-110, BetMGM)
NHL Betting Record*: 31-19-3, +7.77 units
Over/Unders: 18-13-3
Goalie Props: 13-6
Each bet graded as if it were to win one unit
Follow me @MattZylbert on Twitter/X for potentially another pick(s) added on there.
