{"id":531654,"date":"2026-03-30T20:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/531654\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:51:26","slug":"lightning-vs-canadiens-prediction-picks-march-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/531654\/","title":{"rendered":"Lightning vs. Canadiens Prediction &#038; Picks &#8211; March 31"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Montreal Canadiens (42-21-10) will attempt to extend a five-game win streak when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning (46-21-6) on the road on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/affiliates.routy.app\/route\/66358?affId=3147&amp;ts=5002712&amp;pa=1668&amp;pb=968385&amp;cid=Mn40aYCrdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sign up for ESPN+ today<\/a> to watch 1,000+ out-of-market NHL games, ESPN+ Hockey Night &amp; more.<\/p>\n<p>Get ready for this matchup by checking out our prediction for who will win the game in Tuesday&#8217;s hockey action.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last 10 contests, the Canadiens have a record of 7-3-0. They have put up 33 goals, while allowing their opponents to score 21. They have gone on the power play 27 times during that span, and have capitalized with six goals (22.2% of opportunities).<\/p>\n<p>Lightning vs. Canadiens Predictions for Tuesday<\/p>\n<p>Our computer projection model for this contest predicts a final result of Lightning 4, Canadiens 2.<\/p>\n<p>Moneyline Pick: Lightning (-177)<br \/>\nTotal Pick: Under 6.5 (computer predicts 6.3 goals on average)<br \/>\nSpread Pick: Lightning (-1.5)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/affiliates.routy.app\/route\/66358?affId=3147&amp;ts=5002712&amp;pa=1648&amp;pb=968383&amp;cid=Mn40aYCrdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch 1,000+ out-of-market NHL games, ESPN+ Hockey Night &amp; more streaming all season on ESPN+.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lightning Splits and Trends<\/p>\n<p>The Lightning have a 46-21-6 record overall, with a 9-6-15 record in matchups that have gone to overtime.<br \/>\nIn the 22 games Tampa Bay has played that were decided by one goal, it has a 9-9-4 record (good for 22 points).<br \/>\nIn the seven games this season the Lightning registered only one goal, they went 2-4-1 (five points).<br \/>\nTampa Bay has scored exactly two goals in 15 games this season (4-8-3 record, 11 points).<br \/>\nThe Lightning are 40-7-2 in the 49 games when they have scored at least three goals (to register 82 points).<br \/>\nIn the 26 games when Tampa Bay has capitalized on a single power-play goal, it registered 35 points after finishing 16-7-3.<br \/>\nIn the 40 games this season in which it has outshot its opponent, Tampa Bay is 24-11-5 (53 points).<br \/>\nThe Lightning have been outshot by opponents in 31 games, going 20-10-1 to record 41 points.<br \/>\nCanadiens Splits and Trends<\/p>\n<p>The Canadiens have a record of 42-21-10 this season and are 12-10-22 in overtime contests.<br \/>\nMontreal has earned 39 points (17-6-5) in its 28 games that finished with a one-goal margin.<br \/>\nThis season the Canadiens recorded just one goal in five games and they&#8217;ve earned two points (1-4-0) in those contests.<br \/>\nWhen Montreal has scored exactly two goals this season, they&#8217;ve earned seven points (3-6-1 record).<br \/>\nThe Canadiens have scored at least three goals 55 times, earning 85 points from those matchups (38-8-9).<br \/>\nThis season, Montreal has capitalized on a lone power-play goal in 22 games has a record of 16-5-1 in those matchups.<br \/>\nWhen it outshoots its opponent this season, Montreal has posted a record of 15-14-2 (32 points).<br \/>\nThe Canadiens&#8217; opponents have had more shots in 38 games. The Canadiens finished 24-6-8 in those contests (56 points).<\/p>\n<p>Looking for NHL tickets? <a href=\"https:\/\/affiliates.routy.app\/route\/67619?affId=3147&amp;ts=5002712&amp;pa=2994&amp;pb=968393&amp;cid=Mn40aYCrdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Head to StubHub today<\/a> and see your team live.<\/p>\n<p>Team Stats Comparison<\/p>\n<p>Lightning vs. Canadiens Game Time and TV Channel<\/p>\n<p>When: Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 7 p.m. ET<br \/>\nTV Channel: ESPN+<br \/>\nLive Stream: <a href=\"https:\/\/affiliates.routy.app\/route\/66358?affId=3147&amp;ts=5002712&amp;pa=1691&amp;pb=968373&amp;cid=Mn40aYCrdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Watch this game on ESPN+<\/a><br \/>\nWhere: Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida<\/p>\n<p>Sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/affiliates.routy.app\/route\/66358?affId=3147&amp;ts=5002712&amp;pa=1684&amp;pb=968384&amp;cid=Mn40aYCrdQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ESPN+<\/a> to watch the Lightning play Canadiens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Montreal Canadiens (42-21-10) will attempt to extend a five-game win streak when they face the Tampa Bay&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5105],"tags":[833,5,189,835,21,4,61,834,540,92,5168,5167],"class_list":{"0":"post-531654","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-lightning","8":"tag-ds-sports","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-lightning","11":"tag-men","12":"tag-montreal-canadiens","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-nhl-predictions","15":"tag-professional","16":"tag-tampa-bay","17":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","18":"tag-tampabay","19":"tag-tampabaylightning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116320107555834590","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}