Minnesota Wild vs Montreal Canadiens Pick & Prediction – 1/20/2026

The Minnesota Wild head into their Tuesday evening road game against the Montreal Canadiens looking for a third win in a row. Minnesota snapped a multi-game slide with back-to-back wins thanks to some impressive offensive performances of late. Montreal arrives to this game with momentum of their own after a thrilling 6-5 overtime victory over Ottawa. Which team will get another win on Tuesday night? Continue reading to get my Wild vs Canadiens prediction on the ice.

Our Wild vs Canadiens Pick

Game Snapshot

• Matchup: Minnesota Wild vs Montreal Canadiens
• Date & Time: Tuesday, January 20, 2026, 7:00 PM ET
• Venue: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
• Broadcast: ESPN+

Key Storylines

Recent form

Minnesota has won two games in a row coming into this contest. They have scored 11 goals in their last two games, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres. The Wild offense can generate scoring from top to bottom, but they have struggled on defense as well, making consistency a concern going into this matchup. Montreal has secured at least a point in three of their last four games, including a 6-5 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators in their last outing.

Goaltending

Minnesota’s netminding duo has had strong results, with both Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt posting respectable save percentages and goals against averages. Recent outings have seen them surrender multiple goals, but the Wild have been solid in net overall. Montreal goalies Jakub Dobes and Sam Montembeault have struggled for the most part this season. They both have GAAs over 3.00 and need to be better if the Habs are going to win this contest.

Key skaters

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy lead a potent attack capable of exploiting lapses in Montreal’s defense. For the Canadiens, Cole Caufield continues to impress with his goal-scoring prowess, and veterans like Alexandre Carrier and Nick Suzuki have been important in Montreal’s recent surge as well. Hutson’s playmaking from the blue line adds another layer of difficulty for Wild defenders trying to contain the Canadiens’ forwards.

Betting Trends & H2H

• This is the first of two regular-season games between these teams this season.
• The over is 28-22 in Wild games so far this season.
• The Canadiens enter this game at 30-19 to the over for the year.

Wild 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.