Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Bell Centre, Montréal, Québec
Broadcast: TSN / RDS / Bally Sports Florida / ESPN+
Venue Context
Bell Centre remains one of the NHL’s most intimidating, high‑energy home environments, offering:
Loud, momentum‑swinging crowd
Strong home‑ice officiating tendencies favoring Montréal’s aggressive forecheck
Fast ice that benefits speed‑driven teams
This environment strongly favors the Canadiens, who thrive on pace, transition pressure, and crowd‑driven surges.
Injury Report
Florida Panthers
Aleksander Barkov — Day‑to‑day (upper body)
Aaron Ekblad — OUT (lower body)
Sam Bennett — Day‑to‑day (illness)
Eetu Luostarinen — OUT (wrist)
Oliver Ekman‑Larsson — Day‑to‑day (lower body)
Florida enters the matchup with major concerns on defense and down the middle.
Montréal Canadiens
Cole Caufield — Day‑to‑day (lower body)
Juraj Slafkovský — OUT (upper body)
Kaiden Guhle — Day‑to‑day (illness)
Arber Xhekaj — OUT (shoulder)
Montréal is missing some scoring punch but remains structurally intact.
Recent Team Form
Florida (Last 10 Games):
4‑6‑0 record
2.70 goals per game
3.40 goals allowed per game
Power play: 16.7%
Penalty kill: 78.9%
Florida’s defensive structure has slipped without Ekblad, and scoring depth has been inconsistent.
Montréal (Last 10 Games):
7‑2‑1 record
3.60 goals per game
2.40 goals allowed per game
Power play: 23.5%
Penalty kill: 84.1%
Montréal is playing some of its best hockey of the season, driven by elite goaltending and strong 5‑on‑5 play.
Key Player Matchups
Matthew Tkachuk (FLA) vs. Nick Suzuki (MTL)
Tkachuk: 31 G, 44 A, physical play‑driver
Suzuki: 28 G, 52 A, elite two‑way center
Edge: Montréal — Suzuki’s two‑way consistency and line chemistry give him the advantage.
Sam Reinhart (FLA) vs. Cole Caufield (MTL, if active)
Reinhart: 34 G, 38 A, Panthers’ most reliable finisher
Caufield: 29 G, 31 A, elite shooter
Edge: Even — Depends on Caufield’s health.
Goaltending: Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA) vs. Samuel Montembeault (MTL)
Bobrovsky: .903 SV%, 2.98 GAA
Montembeault: .914 SV%, 2.62 GAA
Edge: Montréal — Montembeault has been steadier and benefits from a stronger defensive structure.
Series History
Recent meetings:
Jan 18, 2026: Canadiens 4–2 (MTL win)
Dec 5, 2025: Panthers 3–1 (FLA win)
Mar 22, 2025: Canadiens 5–3 (MTL win)
Jan 10, 2025: Canadiens 4–3 OT (MTL win)
Nov 30, 2024: Panthers 2–1 (FLA win)
Montréal leads 3–2 in the last 5 meetings.
Betting Trends
Florida Trends
3‑7 in last 10 road games
Unders hit in 6 of last 10
Struggling defensively without Ekblad
Montréal Trends
7‑3 in last 10 overall
5‑1 in last 6 home games
Overs hit in 6 of last 10
Matchup Trend
Home team has won 4 of last 5
Montréal averaging 3.8 goals per game vs. Florida in last 5
Game Odds
Florida Panthers 6.5
Montréal Canadiens – 218
Odds Courtesy of Sports Odds Direct as of Monday, April 6, 2026
