Jets vs Canadiens 06/06/21 – Odds and NHL Betting Trends

Trailing 2-0 in their best-of-seven second-round playoff set, the Winnipeg Jets will be looking to get back into the series on Sunday as they face the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 as +115 road underdogs on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Canadiens are -135 home favorites for the contest, with the OVER/UNDER set at five goals (how the OVER/UNDER works).

The Jets played without the suspended Mark Scheifele in Game 2 on Friday night, and failed to get on the scoreboard in a 1-0 loss as small -115 home favorites at sports betting sites.

Game 2 was all about Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, who stopped all 30 shots he faced  in the 1-0 victory. Tyler Toffoli scored shorthanded for Montreal in the second period in the win. Price is 6-3 so far this postseason with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage, while Toffoli leads the team with seven points in his nine playoff games to date.

Jets counterpart Connor Hellebuyck was the hard-luck loser in Game 2, giving up just the Toffoli marker while making 23 saves on the night. Hellebuyck is 4-2 so far in the playoffs, sweeping the Oilers in the first round, with a 1.87 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. Hellebuyck gave up four goals in the Jets’ 5-3 loss to the Canadiens in Game 1.

Picking up the victory in Games 1 and 2 of this series has run the Canadiens’ winning streak to five games, after they came back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Maple Leafs in seven games in the first round. Price and the defense have largely stifled the opposition over the course of that winning streak, allowing just nine total goals over those five contests. The UNDER went 3-2 in those five games, and is 6-3 in Montreal games during this postseason.

The Jets split the OVER/UNDER at 2-2 in their first-round sweep of the Oilers, putting the OVER/UNDER at 3-3 in their six playoff games to date heading into Game 3 on Sunday.

With Scheifele not eligible to return to the ice until Game 6 – if the series lasts that long – the Jets will need to find a way to get their offense going in his absence on Sunday night to avoid  falling into an 0-3 hole in the series. Fellow forwards Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler are tied for the team lead in playoff points with Scheifele with five, along with defenseman Josh Morrissey. Pierre-Luc Dubois has just three points – all assists – through five playoff games.

The Canadiens have been getting production from both their veterans and their youth up front, with Eric Staal and Corey Perry combining for 11 points so far in these playoffs and Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scoring seven total goals heading into Game 3 on Sunday. Brendan Gallagher (two points) and Josh Anderson (one point) have focused on defense.

The teams will be right back in action on Monday night for Game 4. The Jets are 6-4 in their last 10 games on the front end of a back-to-back situation, with the OVER/UNDER 3-6-1 in that stretch. The Canadiens are just 2-8 in their last 10 games in the first game of a back-to-back, and the OVER has the edge at 5-4-1 on the totals at sportsbooks over that stretch.