Montreal Canadiens (42-21-10) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (46-21-6) March 31, 2026 7:00 pm EDT The Line: Tampa Bay Lightning -170 / Montreal Canadiens +142; Over/Under: 6.5 (Get latest betting odds)
The Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning meet Tuesday in NHL action from the Benchmark International Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning prediction.
The Montreal Canadiens come into this game looking to add on to their 3-1 win over Carolina last time out to sit at 42-21-10 this season. After this game, Montreal will head on the road again for a game against the New York Rangers.
Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 91 points including 26 goals and 65 assists while Cole Caufield has 79 points with a team-high 46 goals and 33 assists. Lane Hutson has 73 points with a team-high 62 assists while Ivan Demidov has 57 points with 16 goals and 41 assists. Noah Dobson has 46 points with 34 assists and Mike Matheson has 34 points with 6 goals and 28 assists. Oliver Kapanen has 37 points with 22 goals and 15 assists while Zack Bolduc has 28 points with 11 goals and 17 assists. Sam Montembault has gone 10-8-4 with a 3.43 GAA and an .872 save percentage in goal for the Canadiens while Jakub Dobes is 25-8-4 with a 2.78 GAA and a .900 save percentage. Jacob Fowler is also 7-5-2 with a 2.59 GAA and an .903 save percentage for the Habs this season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning come into this game looking to build on their 3-2 win over Nashville last time out to sit at 46-21-6 this season. After this game, Tampa Bay will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at home.
Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 121 points including 40 goals and 81 assists while Brandon Hagel has 73 points with 35 goals and 38 assists and Jake Guentzel has 80 points with 35 goals and 45 assists. Anthony Cirelli has 49 points with 20 goals and 29 assists. Darren Raddysh has also added 66 points with 20 goals and 46 assists as well on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gone 35-12-4 with a 2.33 GAA and a .913 save percentage while Jonas Johansson is 11-9-2 with a 3.21 GAA and an .886 save percentage this season.
I’m going to take a shot on Montreal here. The Canadiens are playing really well right now, and while they’ve had issues winning in Tampa Bay in the past, I think they’ll battle here as they just went into Carolina and knocked off a tough Hurricanes team in their own building. Tampa Bay has been solid at home in their own right, but I think Montreal is where the value is here.