Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens: Game preview, predictions and odds | January 21, 2024

The Tampa Bay Lightning are on the road to face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

Tampa Bay (25-17-3) is coming off a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday while Montreal (23-19-4) won 5-4 in overtime over the NY Rangers on Sunday.

Lightning vs Canadiens: Head-to-head & key stats

• Tampa Bay is 60-40-6-11 all-time against Montreal
• The Lightning are averaging 3.64 goals per game
• The Habs are 12-8-3 at home
• Tampa Bay is allowing 2.82 goals per game
• Montreal is averaging 3.04 goals per game
• The Bolts are 10-11-2 on the road
• The Habs are allowing 3.32 goals per game

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Montreal Canadiens: Preview

Tampa Bay saw its two-game winning streak snapped against Toronto. The Lightning are led by Nikita Kucherov's 69 points, Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point's 50 points, Jake Guentzel's 46 points and Victor Hedman's 38 points.

The Bolts will start Andrei Vasilevskiy who is 20-13-2 with a 2.35 GAA and a .915 SV%. In his career against Montreal, he is 15-2-2- with a 1.89 GAA and a .935 SV%.

Meanwhile, Montreal is 3-1 in its last four games. The Canadiens will start Sam Montembeault who is 16-16-3 with a 2.98 GAA and a .897 SV%. In his career against Tampa Bay, he is 2-2-1 with a 3.14 GAA and a .898 SV%.

The Habs are led by Nick Suzuki who has 47 points, Cole Caufield with 44 points, Lane Hutson with 38 points and Juraj Slafovsky with 25 points.

Lightning vs Canadiens: Odds & Prediction

Tampa Bay is a -135 favorite while Montreal is a +114 underdog. The over/under is set at 6.5 goals.

The Bolts suffered a loss to Toronto on Monday but decided to not start Vasilevskiy so they could save him for Montreal — a team chasing them.

Vasilevskiy has dominated the Canadiens in his career and that success should continue on Tuesday. The Habs have been playing well as of late, but Tampa Bay should go on the road and get the win, backed by Vasilevskiy's performance.

Prediction: Lightning 3, Canadiens 2.

Lightning vs Canadiens: Betting Tips

Tip 1: Tampa Bay ML (-135)

Tip 2: Under 6.5 goals (-120)

Tip 3: Brandon Hagel 3+ shots on goal (-115)