Senators vs Penguins Odds & Prediction: Bet Monday’s Over/Under

Senators vs Penguins Odds

Two slumping sides will be looking to get back on the winning track when the Ottawa Senators face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.

On Saturday night, the Senators earned their first point in five games when they took the Toronto Maple Leafs to a shootout. Meanwhile, the Penguins are riding a three-game losing streak, but return home after a pair of losses to the New York Rangers.

Here's the latest on both teams, and your best bet for Monday's game.

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Ottawa Senators

The Senators' losing streak has all but extinguished their push for a playoff spot. They're seven points back of the second wild-card spot with 13 games remaining. MoneyPuck pegs their odds of getting to the dance at less than 1%.

The downward spiral began when when goalie Cam Talbot went back on the injured list in early March. Before he went down, he had won three straight games and gave up just seven goals in that span.

Since that time, Ottawa's young tandem of Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese has allowed four or more goals in seven straight games. Even for a team as offensively talented as the Senators, it's a tall task to deliver wins in that situation.

On Sunday, the Senators returned Mandolese to AHL Belleville and recalled Dylan Ferguson. The 24-year-old has just one game of NHL experience on his resume — nine minutes of action when he was with the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017-18 season. However, Ferguson has been playing well for Belleville lately. He's posted a 5-1-0 record and a .935 save percentage since March 1.

Monday's game in Pittsburgh is the first half of a back-to-back set for the Senators, who will also visit the league-leading Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Don't be surprised if Ferguson gets his first start in an Ottawa uniform against the Penguins.

Outside of the crease, Sens forwards Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly are both listed as day-to-day with injuries. Ottawa's penalty kill has been an Achilles heel of late, allowing a goal in each of the past five games.

Pittsburgh Penguins

For their part, the Penguins continue to cling to that second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, despite their rough week. MoneyPuck pegs Pittsburgh's playoff odds at just over 64%.

In the past three games, Pittsburgh was outscored 16-6. And while two of those losses came against the powerful Rangers, the third was against the lowly Montreal Canadiens, on home ice. Despite the Penguins' superior spot in the standings, nothing is guaranteed against Ottawa.

Recent injuries have also made the Penguins thin on the blue line. Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta and Dmitry Kulikov are all on the injured list, so righty Mark Friedman was recalled from the AHL and drew into the lineup against the Rangers on Saturday.

Before this week, the Penguins had been on a pretty good run. They went 7-1-1 from Feb. 25 to Mar. 12, but still had some trouble keeping pucks out of the net during that stretch.

Senators vs Penguins Pick

The Penguins desperately need two points Monday to maintain their spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but don't expect the Senators to go quietly. Ottawa showed some serious determination in its most recent game, erasing a 4-2 deficit against Toronto in the last half of the third period and forcing overtime with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation.

You may want to keep an eye on the goaltending matchup before placing your wager on this game. Ferguson's debut could set the table for an upset win. He's hot right now and most of the Penguins players won't know his tendencies.

Otherwise — consider the over. Both Ottawa and Pittsburgh boast dynamic offenses, and in recent games, have been defensively porous. That could add up to a high-scoring affair.

Pick: Over 6.5 | Play to -140

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