Montreal vs New Jersey Prediction 26 January 2025

🔊 Will the "Canadiens" return to the playoff eight in the East? Montreal remained one of the hottest teams in the league for a long time and since the beginning of January, they have hardly made any mistakes. But now they are experiencing problems again. New Jersey, in turn, has struggled immensely to overcome a long streak of failures. However, it is too early to talk about a full renaissance of the club. The path out of the crisis is just beginning.

📊 Head-to-head

In the current regular season, the opponents met once. In early January, on their home ice in Newark, the "Devils" confidently won with a score of 5:3. Throughout all 60 minutes, the current visitors controlled the course of the game and did not allow the opponent to get back into it. Forward Jesper Bratt made a decisive contribution to his team's success. The Swede scored twice and made an assist. He is one of the top scorers on his team but has been struggling lately. He has only managed to score points three times in the last six matches.

🔴 Montreal

Martin St. Louis' team impressed experts and fans with their numerous successes in the new calendar year. Until the end of the second decade of January, the club had six wins with only one loss to Chicago (2:4). However, then regression followed, and now the team has two defeats within five days. However, they achieved the main thing - numerous successes allowed them to make a significant tournament leap. Now the home team is in close proximity to the playoff zone and can very well take another step.

😈 New Jersey

The "Devils" are struggling to emerge from a full-fledged game crisis. In their last five matches, the team has only one win, but it was extremely important. After a series of failures, Sheldon Keefe's team managed to defeat Boston (5:1). Now much will depend on whether the visitors can finally overcome the slump and achieve several consecutive victories. New Jersey's tournament position is not yet threatened. Their margin of safety allows them to find themselves almost without risk and get back on a winning path by adjusting in-game processes.

🔗 Probable Lineups

Montreal: Montembeault - Matheson, Hutson - Slafkovsky, Suzuki, Caufield

New Jersey: Allen - Hamilton, Dillon - Bastian, Hughes, Cotter

🥅 Goalkeepers

Montreal's goaltender Samuel Montembeault continues to prove that his call-up to Canada's national team for the Four Nations Cup was not a mistake. In the last two matches, he maintained a save percentage of 91%. It's not his fault that his teammates converted his efforts into only one victory.

New Jersey's goaltender Jake Allen has played infrequently and not very effectively this season, but he will likely have to take to the ice much more often now. His partner Jacob Markstrom left the ice in the second period against Boston after sustaining an injury. The nature of the Swede's injury has not been officially reported. Meanwhile, Allen failed his last full game against Philadelphia (88.2%).

📝 Editor's Prediction

Despite the current gameplay issues within the "Devils," there is no doubt about the team's attacking efficiency. The head-to-head clashes between these teams often take place in a sharply attacking manner, and the current visitors confidently find ways to score against the "Canadiens." For instance, in seven consecutive games in Quebec province, New Jersey players have consistently scored at least two goals. In our opinion, this trend will remain relevant. The visitors are gradually emerging from their crisis and should showcase their full potential in attack. We recommend a bet on - New Jersey's individual total over 2.5 goals.