Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, NHL Odds

Payton Matthews | Updated Jan 11, 2025

NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs at Carolina Hurricanes

The Maple Leafs open a three-game homestand on Saturday night as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks for the only time this season.

Vancouver
26-18-10-1
AT
January 11, 2025, 7:00 PM ET
Scotiabank Arena
Toronto
33-20-2
Puckline +1.5 -185
Moneyline +145
Over / Under o +5.5
Puckline -1.5 +150
Moneyline -175
Over / Under u +5.5

Toronto is a -185 favourite on the NHL odds.

Canucks vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds

Count me among those who believed that Vancouver would have been last season’s Western Conference champion – it won the Pacific Division — and perhaps would have won the Stanley Cup had No. 1 goaltender Thatcher Demko not gotten hurt early in the playoffs. Casey DeSmith and Artus Silovs filled in admirably, but the Canucks went out in seven in the second round to Edmonton.

Demko’s injury dragged into this season and he has only played a handful of games. But if he can stay healthy, the Canucks in theory have the offensive talent to make some noise in the West. Vancouver is +6000 to repeat in the Pacific Division, which seems very unlikely with how good Vegas and Edmonton are. To simply make the playoffs, the Canucks are -160 with no at +130.

Saturday is the first of two meetings between the franchises with Toronto visiting Rogers Arena on Feb. 8 – the day before the Super Bowl. They split two high-scoring matchups last season, each winning by multiple goals at home. William Nylander (3G) and Morgan Rielly (3A) led the Leafs with three points each. Neither goaltender who started is with Toronto these days. Blueliner Quinn Hughes (4A) led Vancouver with four points. Demko started both in net and surrendered nine goals on 68 shots.

Vancouver is 6-4 in the past 10 meetings and the over-under is 4-5-1.

Vancouver Canucks

Thatcher Demko started in net for Friday’s fourth straight loss, 2-0 at Carolina, which means it should be Kevin Lankinen tonight, and he has personally lost three in a row but played well in two of them. Lankinen is a stellar 11-2-3 with a 2.27 GAA on the road. Quinn Hughes remains three assists shy of 40 and becoming the first defenceman in franchise history with four straight 40-assist seasons, eclipsing the previous mark set by Dennis Kearns (1975-76 to 1977-78). The Canucks were 0-for-3 with the man advantage on Friday and have converted only two of their past 15 on the power play. And had a season-low 15 shots on goal in North Carolina. The offence is broken right now even with excellent centre Elias Pettersson (10G, 18A) activated off IR ahead of Friday’s game. The Canucks are 1-7 in their past eight road games.

Toronto Maple Leafs

We predicted the Leafs would lose by two goals at Carolina on Thursday and they lost 6-3 to see a five-game winning streak snapped, but the Hurricanes have made many teams look bad this season. It was 3-3 barely a minute into the second period before Carolina took over. Toronto got goals from Nicholas Robertson (seventh of season), William Nylander (24th) and Auston Matthews (14th). It was Nylander’s first goal in nine games, while Matthews extended his points streak to eight consecutive games (5G, 7A). He was a brutal minus-6, however. So was Mitch Marner. Toronto had been 15-1-0 this season when scoring first. Joseph Woll was not sharp but should be back in net on Saturday simply as he’s the best healthy option right now. Woll has been better at home with an 8-3-0 mark, 2.37 GAA and .915 SV. Toronto is 14-1 in its past 15 at home vs. Vancouver.

NHL Prediction: Who Will Win Canucks vs. Maple Leafs?

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