Montreal vs Winnipeg Prediction 29 January 2025

🔊 Can the "Canadiens" interrupt the winning stride of the visitors? Montreal, after a rather impressive series of successes, has reverted to old habits and is now losing points more often than gaining them. The club risks missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs once again. Winnipeg, on the other hand, continues to strengthen its sole leadership in the West and has not made any missteps recently.

📊 Head-to-Head

In the current regular season, the opponents have met once. In mid-December, the "Jets" won on their home ice with a score of 4:2. However, that encounter was not an easy walk for the victors. The current home team scored first but failed to build on their advantage and were defeated. The most productive player of the match was Winnipeg forward Gabriel Vilardi. The Canadian managed to score a goal and provide an assist. The player is currently in excellent form and has been scoring points for three consecutive games.

🔴 Montreal

Martin St. Louis' charges have slowed down and suffered two consecutive defeats for the first time in the new calendar year. First, the team had nothing to counter against Detroit (2:4), and then they lost to New Jersey in overtime (3:4). However, an impressive series of successes before that prevented the club from falling in the standings. Montreal is still in close proximity to the playoff eight of the East. The team's main task is to quickly overcome the current slump and not let it grow into a full-fledged series of failures. The home team has chances, but it's hard to believe in them.

🍁 Winnipeg

The "Jets" continue to persistently follow their path. The sole leader of the West, after a few setbacks, has resumed demolishing opponents. The club from Manitoba has won three consecutive games, dispelling almost all doubts about its claims to leadership. In the last eight matches, Scott Arniel's charges lost only twice, to Calgary (1:3) and Utah (2:5). However, these failures did not derail the visitors from their winning path. At the end of the fifth month of the regular season, the Canadian team shows almost no weak spots.

🔗 Probable Lineups

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

Winnipeg: Hellebuyck - Morrissey, DeMelo - Connor, Scheifele, Iafallo

🥅 Goalkeepers

Montreal's goaltender Samuel Montembeault has hit excellent form and has shown extremely confident play in two consecutive matches. First, he led his team to victory over Tampa (94.3%), and then delivered his best against Detroit, saving 37 out of 41 shots on his goal. It's not his fault that his teammates didn't capitalize on their chances and lost to the "Red Wings".

Winnipeg's goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has slightly slowed down and in two of the last three matches did not maintain a save percentage above 90%. Possibly for this reason, the hockey player missed the last game. Nevertheless, the Canadian remains one of the most stable and effective players in his position in the league.

📝 Editorial Prediction

The visitors are in excellent form and are proving their claims to leadership in the Western Conference. Montreal's instability makes them vulnerable in this context. Moreover, in seven of the last eight head-to-head meetings, the "Canadiens" did not achieve success in regulation time. It's hard to imagine that the team will manage to break this trend in the upcoming game. On the contrary, it's clear that the home team's winning spirit has waned, and they are currently on a downturn. The "Jets" are objectively stronger, as they proved a month ago on their home ice. Our key bet is Winnipeg will not lose.