{"id":118162,"date":"2026-05-16T14:38:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/?p=118162"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:46:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:46:57","slug":"nhl-picks-elimination-game-tonight-at-the-bell-centre-in-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/hockey\/nhl\/nhl-picks-elimination-game-tonight-at-the-bell-centre-in-montreal\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Picks: Elimination Game Tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":117440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl"],"acf":{"auto_update_sportal365":true,"property_type":["","run_ads","","","",""],"authors":false,"custom_author":"Mark Keast","type":"news","properties":{"ads_enabled":true,"adult_content":false,"important":false,"live":false},"live_url":"","type_of_redirect":"permanent","body":[{"acf_fc_layout":"editor_block","content":"

Yesterday on TSN\u2019s Overdrive<\/i>, hockey analyst Mike Johnston talked about how fantastic it would be for Jean Beliveau\u2019s widow, Elise, \u201cThe First Lady of the Canadiens\u201d, to carry the torch into the lower bowl of the Bell Centre for Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres tonight, a pre-game tradition in Montreal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you imagine what the reaction would be in that building? They do things right in Montreal, the true centre of the hockey universe, and such an emotional salute to the organization\u2019s rich legacy, a handing off of the torch to today\u2019s new generation of players \u2013 Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson \u2013 would be a wondrous way to set the tone for the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadiens are in a position to take out the Sabres tonight and move on to the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, who\u2019ve been sitting back and waiting for a week, after taking out the Philadelphia Flyers in four straight games.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabres are going to be tough to close out. Coach Lindy Ruff told the players to avoid the rink yesterday and was even thinking about cancelling this morning\u2019s skate. You can understand that. This far into the season, what can be accomplished by practicing, talking about it, pouring over more game film?<\/span><\/p>\n

Just show up tonight rested, ready to play, and throw it all onto the ice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to play on our toes,\u201d Ruff told Associated Press. \u201cWe got to play to win. Can\u2019t be afraid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

BEST BETS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens, 8 p.m. EST, Bell Centre, Montreal<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Canadiens lead the series 3-2<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In <\/strong><\/span>NHL betting<\/strong><\/span><\/a> at Betway this morning, the Canadiens are Moneyline favourites, at -160, with the Sabres at +130. ATS: Canadiens -1.4 (+145), Sabres -1.5 (-190). Over\/Under 6.5 (O +105, U -125).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sabres To Win (+130)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadiens won Game 5 in Buffalo, and put an exclamation point on it, final score 6-3.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does Ruff come back with goalie Alex Lyon tonight, after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen proved me wrong Thursday night, letting in five goals on 23 shots, for a .783 SV%, before getting pulled to start the third period?<\/span><\/p>\n

We likely won\u2019t know until just before puck drop.<\/span><\/p>\n

One theme from this series has been the success of road teams \u2013 Canadiens 2-1 at KeyBank Center, Sabres 1-1 at Bell Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabres did go 0-for-2 on the power play Thursday night and have ranked lower in the NHL in power play efficiency during the playoffs, at 14.3%. The Habs, on the otherhand, have been efficient on the PP \u2013 22.9%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under 6.5 (-125)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I am also leaning the Under 6.5 \u2013 three of the five games in this series have hit the Under.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the previous round of the playoffs, four of the Sabres\u2019 six games against the Boston Bruins hit the Under 6.5 And in the Habs-Tampa Bay Lightning series \u2013 all seven games hit that Under.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sabres know they can\u2019t get dragged into any track meet on offence tonight, or they won\u2019t be going back to Buffalo for Game 7 Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cole Caufield Total Goals 0.5 (Over +135)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Caufield has been coming on as the series has progressed, after being silent in the opening round against Tampa Bay.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadiens went 2-for-2 in the power play Thursday night, and Caufield, who scored 51 goals in the regular season, is central to that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caufield, whose quick release has become a big matchup problem for the Sabres, has goals in three straight games.<\/span><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t sleep on Demidov Total Points Over 0.5 (-120). Demidov has been hot of late.<\/span><\/p>\n"}],"main_image":117441,"main_image_description":"Saturday NHL betting picks from Betway","brief_description":"Tonight's game is tough to call, but road teams have done well in the Habs-Sabres Eastern Conference series so far"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118162"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118164,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118162\/revisions\/118164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}