Canadiens vs. Hurricanes Game 4 Wednesday: Montreal Looks to Rebound on Home Ice

Monday's Hurricanes-Canadiens Eastern Conference Final Game 3 from Montreal couldn't have worked out better as I recommended Habs +1.5 and Under 3.5 team goals scored. I was simply hoping for a second straight 3-2 game resolved in overtime, and that's precisely what we got in favor of Carolina. The Hurricanes look for a commanding 3-1 lead in Game 4 tonight before the series returns to Raleigh.

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Hurricanes vs. Canadiens same-game parlay

- Montreal +1.5 - Alt Over 4.5

BetRivers SGP: -110

That's now four straight Hurricanes games where the losing team has scored exactly two goals, and they are now 5-0 on the road in these playoffs. It's the second-longest run in team history behind six in a row away in 2002. Carolina for the second straight game blew a pair of one-goal leads but got the OT winner Monday from Andrei Svechnikov at 14:06 of the extra period.

Amazingly, it was Carolina's seventh straight OT playoff win dating to Round 1 of 2025, and that ties the team record. The Hurricanes have won back-to-back OT playoff games for the sixth time and are the fourth team ever to win each of its first five or more overtime games in a single postseason. The overall mark is seven. All five of those OT wins this year were by 3-2 scores.

"I just really think it's our mentality of the team. We love tight games," said Svechnikov, who scored his first career playoff overtime goal. "Overtime, we love that, and we love staying above them, and don't give them lots of chances, and I think that's why we won that again in overtime."

That we get OT tonight is +260. This could become the fifth series before the Stanley Cup Final in the past 15 years to feature three games requiring overtime. The Hurricanes could become the 11th team in NHL history to record an overtime win in three consecutive playoff contests.

Carolina has now scored first in nine of its 11 playoff games (all three games of this series), going 8-1. This marks the first time in 20 years the team has taken the lead in a conference final series after the Hurricanes were swept in this round by Pittsburgh (2009), Boston (2019) and Florida (2023). They are -500 on the updated series line with the Canadiens at +370.

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Meanwhile, it's the first time Montreal has lost back-to-back games in the 2026 postseason, and it fell to 3-4 in these playoffs in OT and 2-5 at home overall. The Habs thought they won Game 3 in regulation when Cole Caufield scored late in the third, but Carolina challenged successfully for offside.

Clearly it is easier said than done, but the Canadiens have to put more shots on net, as they have been limited to just 25 combined in the past two games while the Hurricanes have totaled 64. The Canadiens had more icing calls (15) in Game 3 than they had shots (13) in losing consecutive games for the first time since mid-March.

"That team over there is a good team, very mature," Habs coach Martin St. Louis said. "I don't know if we can match their maturity, but we're going to have to elevate that."

The Canadiens had just one shot on net in the final 37:40. That said, Montreal nearly won it twice in OT. Only 35 seconds in, Nick Suzuki went in alone on Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen and missed the net. Shortly after, blue-liner Mike Matheson fired a shot off the crossbar. All-Star Lane Hutson had one of the two goals to become the first defenseman in franchise history with 10 power-play points in a single postseason. But Hutson also had three giveaways, one leading to Svechnikov's overtime goal.

Rookie netminder Jakub Dobes had been 6-0 after a loss in these playoffs, but he played great Monday with a .921 save percentage compared to only .846 for counterpart Andersen. Dobes made 13 high-danger saves on 14 high-danger shots faced and even had an assist Monday for his first NHL point. He has 1.88 GAA after a loss this postseason. Dobes (9-8) looks to become the third goaltender in Canadiens history to record 10 wins in a playoff year.

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Montreal's six wins after a loss in these playoffs have tied a team record. The last club with at least seven such wins was the Lightning in 2021 en route to a Stanley Cup win. I'm really just looking for another 3-2 game either way but expect the Habs to come out flying in perhaps their final home game if they lose.  Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/betting/news/hurricanes-vs-canadiens-game-4-wednesday-picks-montreal-faces-urgency-to-fix-woes-on-home-ice-in-postseason/)._