Written by Scott on Tuesday, July 14th, 2020
Follow @BetNHL
Now onto the Canadiens vs Penguins series. For this article we will give our thoughts on who we think will not only win the series but in how many games we think it will take.
This series on paper should be a cake walk for the Penguins but this isn’t a normal year for the playoffs and anything can happen.
Canadiens vs Penguins Series Prediction
The Canadiens played in 71 games and went 31-31-9 for 71 points and finshed in 5th place in the Atlantic Division. The Penguins played in 69 games and went 40-23-6 for 86 points and finished in 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Habs made this version of the playoffs when they really had no business being in. They are going to have a hard time keeping up with the Penguins and all of their high skilled players. Max Domi and Brendan Gallagher are going to need to play out of their minds for the Habs to have any chance in this series.
Even if they do have a strong series they can only do so much. The Canadiens will need to find lots of depth scoring from their roster. They do have Nick Suzuki, Jonathan Drouin and, if healthy, Tomas Tatar but those guys aren’t going to scare many teams. On defense they have Shea Weber who is awesome but besides him they are pretty thin on the back end. Carey Price could go on a tear and he was one of the players that made teams upset that they may have to play a healthy and rested Price in the opening round. Well if any team can handle Price, the Pens are one who could.
The Penguins are stacked. Crosby and Malkin are scary to play against and either one of them could carry this team to a series win. But behind them they have plenty of others to carry the offensive load. Jake Guentzel, Patrick Marleau, Jason Zucker, Bryan Rust, Patric Hornqvist the list goes on and on. On defense Kris Letang is a superstar and they also have Justin Schultz, Jack Johnson and John Marino who form a solid defense. Matt Murray had a bit of a stumble but if he regains his early season form then the Pens will be fine in the opening round.
With the players the Penguins have on their roster and all of the experience they have when in the playoffs, there really is no question who will win this series. With the Habs having Price I could see them winning a game but wouldn’t be surprised if the Pens sweep the opening round.
Penguins in 4 games
You can bet this series currently at:
Canada: Bovada, BetOnline...
Everyone Else: 888 Sports, BetOnline..
