Montreal vs Minnesota Prediction 31 January 2025

🔊 Will the "Canadiens" break their losing streak? Montreal achieved a short-term goal and briefly managed to find themselves in the playoff zone in the East. However, the team clearly couldn't keep up with the pace of this race and started to fall down the standings. Minnesota, on the other hand, is gradually getting out of the crisis and becoming stronger with each match.

📊 Head-to-Head

In the current regular season, the opponents met once. In mid-November, the "Wild" confidently won on their home ice with a score of 3:0. The best player of the match was Minnesota's goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who managed to save all 19 shots on goal. Meanwhile, all players from the first line scored for the winners: Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi, and Matthew Boldy.

🔴 Montreal

Martin St. Louis's team experienced a real renaissance in the first half of January. The Canadian club went through a series of unbeaten matches, which allowed them to be in the top eight of the Eastern Conference. However, the team clearly couldn't maintain this pace. Montreal has already suffered three consecutive defeats and is understandably losing positions. Now they have to make up for lost ground, but there's less and less time left.

🟢 Minnesota

The "Wild" are finally getting back into the race. Injuries to Filip Gustavsson first and then Kirill Kaprizov threw the team off track and plunged them into a full-blown crisis. However, with both returning to action, the club gradually recovered and won three out of their last five matches. This allowed them to stop their fall in the standings and secure a spot in the playoff zone. But the Russian is back in the infirmary, and we won't see him in St. Paul anytime soon. Moreover, the forward will undergo surgery, and whether he will return before the end of the regular season remains an open question. Dark days are looming again for Minnesota.

🔗 Probable Lineups

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

Minnesota: Gustavsson - Middleton, Faber - Kaprizov, Eriksson, Zuccarello

🥅 Goalkeepers

Montreal's goaltender Samuel Montembeault remains extremely inconsistent. The Canadian had a decent game against Detroit (91.1%) but faltered against Winnipeg (87%). Problems at the last line negate all the team's efforts.

Minnesota's goaltender Filip Gustavsson remains a cornerstone of the "Wild's" results. In his last two matches, the Swede maintained a 90% save rate and secured victories. The success in the upcoming game will depend on his performance.

📝 Editorial Prediction

Representatives of different NHL conferences meet only twice in one season. However, this matchup has long been marked by one obvious trend. Montreal has failed to defeat the "Wild" on their home ice in 17 of their last 18 meetings. The clubs haven't met in the playoffs for a long time, which means this trend has been ongoing for 18 years. We have no reason to believe it will end now. The hosts desperately need points to stop their decline, while the visitors have once again lost their "leader." We recommend a bet - Minnesota will not lose.