Montreal is playing the string out in the midst of another non playoff season. The Canadiens have been shut out in their last two games.

But the big news here for the Canadiens is the expected return of Carey Price in net. That may sound good on the surface, but Price wasn't having a strong season when he suffered a concussion. This will be his first game since Feb. 20. Price figures to be very rusty. He also will be seeing a lot of young players in front of him and no stalwart defenseman Shea Weber, who is out for the year.

Montreal has lost 22 of its last 28 games versus Eastern Conference foes.

So I'm not expecting much from the dead Canadiens here. Neither is the oddsmaker with this large of a price. My strategy is to turn this into a plus profit by laying 1 1/2 goals on the puck line.

The Penguins didn't play that well two games ago when they met the Canadiens in Montreal this past Thursday. Yet they still won by two goals.

After that game the Penguins played the Islanders on the road. That was last night and the Islanders, a huge underdog, stunned the Penguins winning 4-1.

I'm expecting a strong bouce back effort from Pittsburgh. There should not be a fatigue factor either as the Penguins' previous game before last night was back on Thursday against the Canadiens.

The Penguins are 26-8-1 at home this season and Matt Murray is back in net for them after missing three weeks with a concussion. The Penguins usually crush weak foes going 8-1 the past nine times versus below .400 opponents.