Chicago Blackhawks vs Montreal Canadiens Pick & Prediction – 12/18/2025

Thursday night’s contest between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre matches up two teams that have been struggling of late. The Canadiens enter as favorites in front of their home crowd, but both teams come into this Original Six battle having lost the majority of their recent games. Before the puck is dropped in Montreal, you will find my Blackhawks vs Canadiens prediction right here.

Our Blackhawks vs Canadiens Pick

Game Snapshot

• Matchup: Chicago Blackhawks vs Montreal Canadiens
• Date & Time: Thursday, December 18, 2025, 7:00 PM
• Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
• Broadcast: ESPN+

Key Storylines

Recent form

Montreal enters this contest having lost three of their last five games. They broke a recent slump with a 4-1 win over Edmonton that showcased balanced scoring and strong goaltending. However, they followed that with a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia, struggling mightily on defense in that contest. Overall, the Canadiens hold a 17-12-4 record, and at home they are around .500. Chicago has struggled more with a three-game losing streak and a record below .500. They’ve managed just four goals over their last three games and they will try to bounce back here.

Goaltending

Chicago’s Spencer Knight has faced a challenging stretch, allowing 12 goals across three recent road losses. His GAA is still strong at 2.55, but he needs to tighten things up to help his team get a win here. Montreal’s goaltending will be done by Jakub Dobes, who has seen his GAA creep above 3.00 for the season. Goaltending will be a question mark on both sides based on what we’ve seen from both netminders going into this one.

Key skaters

Chicago’s offense has taken a hit with the absence of Connor Bedard, who was ruled out recently after suffering a shoulder injury. Bedard leads the Blackhawks in points and goals, and his absence leaves a huge void for Chicago’s attack to fill. Montreal relies heavily on Cole Caufield, who is among the team’s leaders in goals and points. Nick Suzuki snapped a goal drought while extending his point streak recently. Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky add playmaking depth that has helped Montreal’s offensive balance as well.

Best Player Props

Betting Trends & H2H

• Montreal defeated Chicago 3-2 in their first meeting of the season in Chicago.
• The Canadiens are 15-18 on the puckline so far this season.
• The Blackhawks are an impressive 24-9 in the puckline market entering Thursday’s action.

Blackhawks vs Canadiens Model Projection

Final Thoughts

Jay Sanin

Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.