Montreal Canadiens at Vegas Golden Knights, NHL forecast
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Win probability
Starts from the pregame forecast, then moves with every score and the time left. Above the line favors VGK; hover for each play.
Game center
From the ESPN box score.
Top performers
Canadiens- Cole CaufieldGoals1
- David SavardAssists1
- Kirby DachPoints1
Golden Knights- Tomas HertlAssists1
- Tomas HertlPoints1
Scoring summary
- P310:09Kirby Dach Goal (5) Backhand, assists: Josh Anderson (9)3–2
- P37:58Emil Heineman Goal (9) Wrist Shot, assists: David Savard (9)2–2
- P217:27Cole Caufield Goal (19) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (25), Juraj Slafkovsky (17)1–2
- P119:48Noah Hanifin Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: none0–2
- P12:23Zach Whitecloud Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Tomas Hertl (15), Keegan Kolesar (7)0–1
Turning points
The 5 plays that swung the win chance most, each judged at its own moment: the chance with the score just before it against just after.
- P12:23Zach Whitecloud Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Tomas Hertl (15), Keegan Kolesar (7)MTL 0 – 1 VGK · VGK 66% → 79% +12VGK 66% → 79%+12 pts
- P119:48Noah Hanifin Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: noneMTL 0 – 2 VGK · VGK 79% → 89% +11VGK 79% → 89%+11 pts
- P217:27Cole Caufield Goal (19) Wrist Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (25), Juraj Slafkovsky (17)MTL 1 – 2 VGK · MTL 7% → 19% +12MTL 7% → 19%+12 pts
- P37:58Emil Heineman Goal (9) Wrist Shot, assists: David Savard (9)MTL 2 – 2 VGK · MTL 16% → 42% +27MTL 16% → 42%+27 pts
- P310:09Kirby Dach Goal (5) Backhand, assists: Josh Anderson (9)MTL 3 – 2 VGK · MTL 43% → 77% +34MTL 43% → 77%+34 pts
The pick
Reconstructed from what was known before the game: the ratings at that point and the closing line.
Golden Knights 67%
Forecast Elo ratings alone
How often that comes true: NHL favorites the forecast gave 65–70% have won 67.6% of 306 graded games.
- Market
- VGK 67%
- ML MTL +190 / VGK -225
- Pre-line forecast
- VGK 68%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- VGK 67%
- Ratings vs. market
- +0.5 pts
- VGK: Elo 67.3%, market 66.8%
- Fair odds
- VGK -201
- MTL +201 · the forecast as odds, no margin
- Pregame projection
- MTL 2.8 – 3.7 VGK
- Margin from the forecast, posted total 6.5
How the number is built
Elo inputs in rating points (higher favors that team; 25–28 Elo is about a point of spread in football and basketball), then how the pieces combine.
| Factor | MTL | VGK | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team rating | 1462 | 1547 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +35 | Worth 35 Elo in the NHL |
| Starting goalies | +2 | +7 | MTL: Sam Montembeault: team allows 0.05 fewer goals than with its usual starter (≈37 weighted starts) · VGK: Adin Hill: team allows 0.18 fewer goals than with its usual starter (≈35 weighted starts) |
| Elo ratings | VGK +125 Elo | VGK 67.3% | |
| Market-implied ratings | VGK 67.9% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | VGK 67.8% | 20% Elo, 80% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
| Forecast | VGK 66.8% | Follows the market (vig removed): in testing, adding the ratings made it less accurate | |
Tale of the tape
This season coming into the game, regular season, each number with its league rank (the longer the bar, the higher). Home and road: the host's record at home against the visitor's on the road. Overtime and shootout losses count as losses in these records. Shot share is a team's share of the shots on goal in its games. PDO adds shooting and save percentages: far from 100 tends to even out.
| MTL | Stat | VGK |
|---|---|---|
| 18th of 323.1 | Goals scored | 3.64th of 32 |
| 28th of 323.5 | Goals allowed | 2.87th of 32 |
| 24th of 32−0.4 | Margin | +0.84th of 32 |
| 29th of 3246.1% | Shot share | 52.1%8th of 32 |
| 30th of 3288.8% | Save percentage | 90.6%10th of 32 |
| 7th of 326–4 | Last 10 | 9–11st of 32 |
| 25th of 326–11 | Road vs home | 15–31st of 32 |
Rating history
Each team's Elo over the last two seasons. Hover or drag to compare on any date.
Recent form
Last five results, and whether the forecast hit.
Against the line
How each team has done against the closing spread and total, coming into this game.
| This season |  MTL |  VGK |
|---|---|---|
| Puck line | 20–16 | 22–14 |
| Last 10 | 6–4 | 8–2 |
| Favorite | 1–1 | 14–12 |
| Underdog | 19–15 | 8–2 |
| Overs–unders | 21–15 | 19–17 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 7–3 | 3–7 |
Against each game's closing line. Books set every line knowing these records: across 3,901 past games, the team with the better record against the spread so far that season covered 51.2%, short of the 52.4% a standard −110 bet needs, and over/under streaks held 48.0% of the time. They describe the past.
Head to head
MTL 0–3 VGK in their last 3 meetings; the forecast called 2 of 3.