{"id":621919,"date":"2026-05-04T00:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/621919\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T00:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:03:16","slug":"canadiens-vs-lightning-prediction-picks-best-bets-for-tonights-nhl-playoffs-game-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/621919\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens vs Lightning Prediction, Picks & Best Bets for Tonight’s NHL Playoffs Game 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chris<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Chris Faria<\/a>
\n \u2022 Betting Analyst<\/p>\n

8+ years betting experience<\/p>\n

\n Updated:
\nMay 3, 2026 , 03:06 PM ET<\/p>\n

\u2022 3 min read<\/p>\n

Faria’s prediction: Lane Hutson continues to produce for the Habs.<\/p>\n

\"Montreal<\/p>\n

Photo By – Reuters Connect. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson (48).<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Added a goal scorer + who will win prediction.<\/p>\n

Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs ends tonight when the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning face off in Game 7 at Amalie Arena.<\/p>\n

My Canadiens vs. Lightning predictions and NHL picks<\/a> focus on Habs defenseman Lane Hutson, who has been the offensive motor for Montreal throughout this series.<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning Game 7 prediction
\nWho will win Canadiens vs Lightning Game 7?<\/p>\n

Montreal: Although the Lightning narrowly avoided elimination in Game 6 with an overtime win, Tampa Bay has failed to win two straight playoff games since the 2022 Conference Finals \u2014 a span of 28 consecutive contests.<\/p>\n

The Habs are the younger, faster team and will come out hungry in Game 7.<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning best bet: Lane Hutson Over 0.5 assists (-125)<\/p>\n

Lane Hutson<\/a>\u2019s five points are tied for the team lead so far this postseason, and the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> blueliner will add to his assist totals in Game 7.<\/p>\n

The Habs have controlled nearly 53% of expected goals at 5-on-5 with Hutson on the ice \u2014 the sixth-best mark among all Montreal skaters \u2014 while his 5.01 on-ice expected goals are tops on the team. In short, Hutson has arguably been the Canadiens\u2019 best player at generating scoring chances.<\/p>\n

Hutson has found the score sheet in all three road games against the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> in this series, including a helper in two of those contests.<\/p>\n

Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account \"Add<\/a>Canadiens vs Lightning Game 7 same-game parlay<\/p>\n

The Lightning and Canadiens have combined for Under 5.5 goals in every meeting this series outside of Game 1. It\u2019ll be another tight, low-scoring battle in Game 7.<\/p>\n

Brandon Hagel<\/a> has found the scoresheet in five of six contests and co-leads all skaters in the series with eight points. He also ranks second on Tampa Bay in ice time per game (25:21).<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning SGP<\/p>\n

Under 5.5
\nLane Hutson Over 0.5 assists
\nBrandon Hagel Over 0.5 points<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning Game 7 goal scorer pick
\nJuraj Slafkovsky (+220)<\/p>\n

Juraj Slafkovsky scored a hat trick in Game 1 but has been held off the score sheet since then. That\u2019ll change on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Slafkovsky leads the Habs in shots (17), high-danger chances (14), and individual expected goals (3.58) \u2013 that\u2019s nearly double Ivan Demidov, who ranks second (1.92).<\/p>\n

The Canadiens winger has been snake bitten but is due to find the back of the net.<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning odds for Game 7<\/p>\n

Moneyline: Canadiens +130 | Lightning -150
\nPuck Line: Canadiens +1.5 (-215) | Lightning -1.5 (+175)
\nOver\/Under: Over 5.5 (+130) | Under 5.5 (-150)<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning trend<\/p>\n

Montreal is 8-2 SU in its last 10 road games.\u00a0Find more\u00a0NHL betting trends<\/a> for Canadiens vs. Lightning.<\/p>\n

How to watch Canadiens vs Lightning Game 7<\/p>\n

Location
\nAmalie Arena, Tampa, FL<\/p>\n

Date
\nSunday, May 3, 2026<\/p>\n

Puck drop
\n6:00 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

TV
\nTNT<\/p>\n

Canadiens vs Lightning latest injuries<\/p>\n

Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.<\/p>\n

Pages related to this topic<\/p>\n

\"Chris<\/p>\n

After writing a few pieces for the Varsity newspaper during his time at the University of Toronto, Chris Faria’s career in sports truly began in 2019 when he attended the sports journalism program at Centennial College. Since then, he\u2019s covered virtually every sport under the sun, having written for several different outlets including Covers and the Canadian Olympic Committee.\u00a0A lifelong hockey fan and player, Chris currently works full-time for the National Hockey League.<\/p>\n

Outside of hockey, he\u2019s also an avid poker player and mixed martial arts fan, which is coincidentally his favorite sport to bet on \u2013 usually in the form of a parlay on bet365. The main lesson he\u2019s learned from years of betting is bankroll management: “Never bet more than you\u2019re comfortable losing and never chase your losses.”<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Faria \u2022 Betting Analyst 8+ years betting experience Updated: May 3, 2026 , 03:06 PM ET \u2022…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-621919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}