{"id":462019,"date":"2025-02-04T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=462019"},"modified":"2025-02-04T08:33:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:33:07","slug":"nhl-predictions-february-4-san-jose-sharks-vs-montreal-canadiens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/02\/04\/nhl-predictions-february-4-san-jose-sharks-vs-montreal-canadiens\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: February 4 San Jose Sharks vs Montreal Canadiens"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this busy NHL slate, the San Jose Sharks head home for a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Welcome back to NHL Predictions! Today, like every day, <\/span>Last Word on Hockey <\/span><\/em>looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each. We\u2019ll also break down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play a part. In The Bay, the Sharks are trying to head into the Four Nations break strong, while the Canadiens are aiming to keep pace in the busy Eastern Conference<\/span> wild card race. Finally, check out more <\/span>predictions<\/span> for all the NHL\u2019s games throughout the 2024-25 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/h2>\n

Montreal Canadiens at San Jose Sharks<\/h3>\n

Time:\u00a0<\/strong>10:30 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time)<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0<\/strong>NBCSCA; TSN2; RDS; ESPN+<\/p>\n

Sharks Looking to Avenge Blowout Loss<\/h4>\n

The Sharks head back to the SAP Center for three games before the Four Nations break. The club is coming off a 6-2 loss against the Seattle Kraken<\/a>, who scored four goals in the second period to take control. Tonight’s game will be the club’s first without Mikael Granlund<\/a> and Cody Ceci<\/a> after the trade<\/a> to Dallas<\/a>. In Granlund’s place, head coach Ryan Warsofsky will be looking to Macklin Celebrini<\/a> to carry the offensive load the rest of the way. In his last five games, Celebrini has a team-leading three goals and five points. He also has 37 points in 41 games. Fellow rookie William Smith<\/a> has 22 points in 46 games and leads the Sharks with four assists in the last five games. Each player tallied an assist in the loss to Seattle and will be relied upon to generate offence.<\/p>\n

On the back end, Jake Walman<\/a> will continue to log heavy minutes after Ceci’s departure. Henry Thrun<\/a> should also see increased minutes. Over the last five, Thrun is averaging just over 16 minutes per game and has been practicing alongside Walman on the top defensive pair. In the net, Alexandar Georgiev<\/a> should get the start, as Yaroslav Askarov<\/a> was sent to the AHL. Additionally, Vitek Vanecek<\/a> was recalled from his conditioning stint, creating San Jose’s tandem with Georgiev.<\/p>\n

Canadiens Desperately Need Win to Keep Pace in Busy Eastern Conference<\/h4>\n

Coming into this game, the Canadiens sit six points out of a playoff spot and are riding a three-game losing streak. The team has hit an offensive wall, as leading scorer Cole Caufield<\/a> has just one goal in the last five games. Captain Nick Suzuki<\/a> also has just one goal but also has three assists in the same time frame. The other member of the top line, Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a>, has 29 points. He is also looking to provide a needed spark. Additionally, Patrik Laine<\/a> started his Habs tenure red-hot but has cooled off since. Montreal needs to see more from Laine if they are going to turn this stretch around.<\/p>\n

Defensively, rookie Lane Hutson<\/a> has been nothing short of remarkable. His 39 points lead all rookies, two ahead of Celebrini. He quarterbacks the power play and is a major factor in Montreal’s plans. Mike Matheson<\/a> is another key piece for the Habs. His 23 points put him second among Canadiens defencemen. The team is also dealing with injuries, as Kaiden Guhle<\/a> is out indefinitely with a lacerated quadricep. In the net, Jakub Dobes<\/a> has been great and started on Sunday, so expect Sam Montembeault<\/a> between the pipes against the Sharks.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

The Canadiens should come out with a purpose. They should also find offensive success against San Jose’s shaky defence. Expect the Habs to pick up a crucial win.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Montreal wins 5-2<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of the Night<\/h3>\n

We also like a lot of scoring in this one, so the over 6.5 goals at +112 odds provides some good value.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this busy NHL slate, the San Jose Sharks head home for a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Welcome back to NHL Predictions! Today, like every day, Last Word on Hockey looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each. We\u2019ll also break down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5245,"featured_media":462103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,4547,7,4548,25],"tags":[3758,3805,1457,6932,7307,7710,6016,949,6060,7606],"class_list":["post-462019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-hockey","category-canadiens","category-nhl","category-sharks","tag-alexandar-georgiev","tag-cole-caufield","tag-jake-walman","tag-juraj-slafkovsky","tag-lane-hutson","tag-macklin-celebrini","tag-montreal-canadiens-predictions","tag-nick-suzuki","tag-san-jose-sharks-predictions","tag-will-smith"],"modified_by":"Alec Roberson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462019"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462104,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462019\/revisions\/462104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}