NHL: Ottawa Senators at Montreal Canadiens

The Ottawa Senators hit the road to take on the Montreal Canadiens in a battle of two Canadian teams as the NHL regular season rolls along. This should be a good matchup between two middling franchises, as they look to get back on track with the season’s home stretch starting to creep up. The two played each other on Jan. 18, when the Senators demolished the Canadiens, 6-2 in Ottawa.

The Senators (17-24-1) enter this matchup fresh off a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. What was most impressive about that victory was that it was in come-from-behind fashion after Philadelphia jumped out to a two-goal lead. Ottawa was the underdog for that matchup and will look to carry momentum over to Tuesday’s game.

Ottawa has five players with 30-plus points this season. Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson and Vladimir Tarasenko have all hit that threshold.

The Senators also just welcomed back forward Shane Pinto. Pinto was suspended 41 games for “activities related to sports wagering” and scored 20 goals last season before his suspension in October of 2023.

Joonas Korpisalo will likely be in net for Ottawa, which could be a good or bad, depending on how you look at it. The Senators have won two of their last three games with Korpisalo in net, with the lone loss coming against the Winnipeg Jets in overtime. Korpisalo has been solid as of late, but the body of work suggests otherwise. Korpisalo is 9-15-1 this season with a .887 save percentage, which ranks 53^rd in the NHL. It’s a total crapshoot with him in net, so this could play a deciding factor in the game’s outcome.

Montreal (19-20-7) has lost consecutive games to the Senators and Bruins, and neither one of the matchups were particularly close. So they will look to clean things up for this game. Montreal has struggled to generate offense this season, averaging 2.72 goals per game, which ranks 28^th in the NHL. The Canadiens will need to keep the pucks going toward the net to slow down this hot Senators team, but they should be prepared to play them for the second time in the span of a week.

Norm LaChatlier’s Pick: Canadiens moneyline (+125)

This bet has a few different layers but is primarily a fade of this Senators team, specifically Korpisalo of Ottawa. Sure, Korpisalo has played much better in his last three games, including the win against Montreal last week, but the body of work paints a much different picture. The Sens have lost 12 of their previous 16 games with Korpisalo in net, and now face a Canadiens’ team that returns home following a three-game road trip. While they lost 9-4, Saturday’s game against Boston is misleading when looking at the final score. Yes, Montreal got waxed on the ice, but they also allowed four goals in mere minutes to open up the third period. Let’s look for the Canadiens to get their heads on straight following the bad loss and road trip. This is a familiar spot for them, with a favorable goaltending matchup on the other side. With Montreal as a home underdog, this game is certainly worth playing.

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NBA: New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets

The New York Knicks (26-17) look to stay hot as they travel across town to take on the Brooklyn Nets (17-25). The Knicks are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are riding a three-game win streak heading into this matchup against their crosstown rival.

The addition of OG Anunoby continues to pay dividends for New York, as the Knicks are 9-2 since acquiring him from the Toronto Raptors. Anunoby has fit in well with the Knicks system and has assisted in unlocking a smoother style of play alongside frontmen Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson.

Anunoby is more of a traditional three-and-D player, which has aided the Knicks on the court. The Knicks were a solid team prior to the trade, but the addition of Anunoby has helped unlock something within the squad, as they have been one of the best teams in the NBA since the start of the new year.

The same cannot be said for the Nets, who are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Having lost four of its previous five, Brooklyn will look to get back on track against a familiar foe. It’s worth noting that Brooklyn has beaten some decent teams this season, like Orlando, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, and most recently, the Los Angeles Lakers. The 125-115 victory against the Thunder is the most noteworthy, as Oklahoma City is currently penciled in as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

There is nothing out of the ordinary on the injury report for either squad, although big man Isiah Hartenstein is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury. Despite their winning on the court, the Knicks have traded wins and losses against the spread (ATS) over their last six games with a record of 3-3. The Knicks won and covered (-7.5) in their previous game against the Raptors, 126-100. New York will also have an extra day of rest heading into this game, having last played on Jan. 20. Brooklyn has not been very good straight up or ATS in recent memory, posting a 2-7-1 record in their last 10 games.

Jason Schlefsky’s pick: New York -3.5 (-110)

Let’s look towards the New York Knicks here ATS and fade their crosstown rivals in the process. Betting against Brooklyn during the last sample size of games has proved profitable, and there’s no reason for that to change moving forward. Brooklyn lacks offensive consistency beyond Mikal Bridges, and the Knicks duo of Brunson and Randle should pile on the points against a suspect Nets’ defensive unit.  Technically, this is a road game for New York, but they need to travel mere minutes across town for this matchup. We know the Nets have a small fan base relative to the Knicks, who have fans all across the city. This should look and feel like a home game for New York. The Knicks have won and covered their last three games head-to-head. We have also seen the Knicks cover long numbers, such as -11 against Memphis and -13 versus Portland, two teams on a similar level as the Nets right now. Let’s look for the Knicks to stay hot and win, plus cover on Tuesday night.

And Keep an Eye On…

NCAAMB: Colorado State @ Nevada (Wednesday 10:30 pm ET)

If you’re on the East Coast, this one might not immediately catch your eye or fit with your bedtime schedule. However, anyone interested in filling out a proper bracket come March might want to tune in as No. 24 Colorado State (15-3) takes on Nevada (15-4) in a pivotal Mountain West matchup. The conference already boasts three teams in the top- and five with 15 or more wins on the season. This game could serve as a determining factor for which Mountain West teams will get noticed by the selection committee.

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NBA: Celtics @ Heat (Thursday, 7:30 pm ET)

It seems like a long, long time ago when the Miami Heat shocked the world and upset the heavily favorited Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. It was just last spring, but the Heat’s miraculous run was spoiled by Denver, and now, Miami finds itself look up – way up (like, 9.5 games back, up) – at the Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings. Boston, who beat Miami back in late October, certainly hasn’t forgotten what took place in last year’s playoffs, so this one figures to have a few fireworks.

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NHL: Golden Knights @ Rangers (Friday, 7 pm ET)

On Friday night the Big Apple plays host to two of the NHL’s true heavyweights, as the Vegas Golden Knights take their show on the road to face the Rangers. Both teams have amassed 60 points already on the season, with New York claiming the top spot in the Metropolitan Division and Vegas trying to catch the Canucks for supremacy in the Pacific. Regardless of where they currently sit in the standings, there’s a puncher’s chance this game provides a Stanley Cup series preview.