Match Facts
MatchupDetailTeamsSt. Louis Blues at Montreal CanadiensDateSunday (regular-season matchup)VenueBell Centre, MontrealRecent formCanadiens have won 5 of their last 7; Blues snapped a 2-game skid with a road win in OttawaLast gameCanadiens 2-1 SO win at Toronto; Blues 4-2 win at Ottawa
Line and Odds
MarketNumberNotesMoneylineCanadiens slight home favoriteMontreal in better recent form, at home, Blues on a back-to-back with travel.Puck lineCanadiens -1.5 likely plus moneyOne-goal game risk is high with both teams playing tight, low-event games.TotalAround 5.5 to 6Both trending toward tighter contests with solid goaltending.
Before publishing, sync this with the live board on the NHL scores and odds page so the numbers match what bettors actually see.
Matchup and Line Movement
Montreal should open as a modest home favorite. The Canadiens have quietly taken five of their last seven and are coming off an emotional 2-1 shootout win in Toronto where they contained one of the league’s most dangerous attacks. They’re starting to look more like a team you consider regularly when scanning the nightly NHL picks.
St. Louis stopped a two-game skid with a 4-2 win in Ottawa but did it while being outshot 42-20 and spending way too much time killing penalties. On the second night of a back-to-back, with travel and a thinner forward group, the market is likely to shade against that profile, even with Jordan Binnington expected in goal.
Any bigger moves will track goalie confirmations and clarity on Jordan Kyrou. A confirmed Kyrou absence plus Binnington starting should nudge money toward Montreal and toward a lower-scoring script.
Breakdown Injury Reports
Montreal Canadiens
PlayerStatusNoteJakub DobesStarted vs TorontoStrong outing against the Leafs; likely backs up here.Sam MontembeaultExpected starterShould get the crease after Dobes’ start, giving Montreal a rested No. 1 at home.Skater coreNo new key injuries in this noteCaufield, Demidov and main forwards expected available.
St. Louis Blues
PlayerStatusNoteJordan KyrouDay-to-day (left leg)Tied for team lead with 8 goals; left the Ottawa game after a hit along the wall. Early estimate 1 week to 10 days, pending MRI.Jimmy SnuggerudOut (wrist surgery)Removes a scoring winger from the top nine.Nathan WalkerOut (upper body)Depth wing still sidelined.Alexey ToropchenkoOut (leg burns)Physical bottom-six energy missing.Matt LuffPossible debutAHL call-up who could slot in for Kyrou.Jordan BinningtonLikely starterExpected in net after Hofer’s 41-save performance in Ottawa.
Montreal Canadiens recent performance
Montreal is trending in the right direction. The 2-1 shootout win in Toronto was their fifth victory in seven games and came on the road against a high-end offense. They limited the Leafs to one regulation goal and got just enough scoring from their top guns to steal two points.
Cole Caufield extended his point streak to 10 games with a power-play goal and now has three goals and nine assists over that run. His constant shot pressure and ability to score from dangerous areas give Montreal a real focal point on the top unit.
Rookie Ivan Demidov continues to climb. He assisted on Caufield’s goal and now has eight points in his last nine games. Martin St. Louis has praised how he “plays much bigger” than his frame, gets into battles, wins pucks, and doesn’t just float on the outside. That two-way engagement is helping Montreal extend offensive zone time rather than relying purely on rush chances.
With Dobes used in Toronto, Montembeault should get a clean, rested start here. A confident, structured team in front of a fresh goaltender at home is exactly the type of profile that starts to show well when you compare clubs on the NHL teams page.
St. Louis Blues recent performance
The Blues got the win they needed in Ottawa but paid for it. They snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-2 road victory built on a massive performance from Joel Hofer, who made 41 saves, and a penalty kill that went 6-for-7 while blocking 21 shots.
Jim Montgomery highlighted the shot blocking and sacrifice — and the number of ice bags afterward — as proof of how committed the group was. That’s great from an effort standpoint, but it’s not the kind of game script you want to live in every night, especially rolling straight into a back-to-back. Being outshot 42-20 and taking seven minors is a red flag, not a blueprint.
Kyrou’s injury is another problem for an already thin wing group. With Snuggerud, Walker and Toropchenko already out, losing (or limiting) a top scorer forces more responsibility onto players like Jake Neighbours, who finally broke through with his first goals since Oct. 25, and potentially Luff if he draws in.
Binnington in goal keeps the Blues competitive, but if the skaters in front of him repeat the Ottawa shot and penalty profile, they’re asking a lot from their netminder. It’s the kind of imbalance that shows up quickly if you look at goals-for, goals-against and shot metrics relative to the rest of the league through an NHL betting guide lens.
Betting Insights and Trends
This matchup is basically “sustainable vs. stretched.”
Montreal’s recent success is built on elements that tend to carry: better five-on-five play, top-line consistency, and a stable goaltending setup. They’re not crushing opponents, but they’re winning tight games in a repeatable way.
St. Louis’ last win leaned heavily on extreme PK minutes, blocked shots and a goalie standing on his head, while the penalty and shot clock went heavily against them. Add a back-to-back, travel, and a forward group missing multiple key wingers, and you get a profile that you generally want to fade at short prices on the road unless the number is very generous.
Side-wise, the lean is toward Montreal as a modest home favorite. For the total, both teams’ recent patterns and likely goaltending setup point more to a lower-scoring, grindy game in the 5–6 goal window than to a track meet.
Smart NHL Bets Start Here
Backed by AI + sharp data insights
Best Bets and Prediction
Projected final score: Canadiens 3, Blues 2
Montreal’s mix of form, a healthier forward group and a rested Montembeault suggests a narrow home win. Caufield’s finishing and Demidov’s emerging two-way impact give the Canadiens the more reliable game-breaking edge, and their structure has tightened enough to protect a lead better than in past seasons.
St. Louis should compete — the effort and willingness to block shots in Ottawa were real — but asking a tired, injury-thinned group to control play in Montreal after being heavily outshot the night before is a stretch. A 3-2 Canadiens win fits both teams’ current identities and recent results.
Handicapper section
From a betting standpoint, this is the sort of spot where you usually side with the more sustainable profile. Montreal’s improvements show up in their results and in how they’re winning, while St. Louis is surviving on high-variance elements like massive PK duty and goalie heroics.
On a full slate, the Canadiens are a reasonable moneyline candidate at the right price and can be part of a broader card built from the nightly NHL picks menu, rather than a standalone “all-in” position. The total leans under or toward a tight range, but final calls should follow confirmed goalie news and any last-minute update on Kyrou’s status.