Calgary Flames vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, NHL Odds
After handing Toronto their third straight loss on Friday, Calgary will be looking for a repeat performance on Saturday. With the losses beginning to pile up and their lead in the North Division gone, the Leafs are desperately trying to get back in the win column at home.
Toronto is a -175 favourite to win on the NHL odds with a total of 6.0.
Flames vs. Maple Leafs Betting Analysis
This has been a fairly close season series. Toronto has a 3-2 edge in wins, but four of the five games have been decided by a single goal. The lone shutout of the series was a 3-0 Calgary win on Feb. 22 in Toronto. David Rittich stopped all 34 shots he faced.
Partially due to underperforming, Calgary has struggled to cover the spread this year. The Flames are 14-17 ATS overall and have only covered in seven of 10 road games. Calgary has, however, managed to put the puck in the back of the net, lately. The Flames have hit the Over in four of their last six games and their over/under is 14-14-3 on the season.
With a stacked lineup up front, the Leafs haven’t had to worry about scoring over the last few years. That stacked offensive lineup, however, combined with Toronto’s recent goaltending and defensive struggles, had led the Leafs to hitting the Over in five straight games. They’ve been brutal at covering the spread, going 11-20 ATS overall and only covering in six of 19 home games.
Calgary Flames
New coach Darryl Sutter has provided Calgary with a huge boost of momentum in a crucial part of the season. The Flames have won four of five games since Sutter was brought in and now only trail Montreal by two points for the final playoff spot. It only took Calgary just over seven minutes to build a 2-0 lead on Friday and they never looked back from that point. Matthew Tkachuk’s goal 1:19 into the game ended an eight-game goal drought and Mark Giordano’s power play goal in the second period proved to be the winner.
Jacob Markstrom was right back in the action on Friday, two days after Sutter refused to pull him in a 7-3 loss to Edmonton. Markstrom responded by stopping 24 of 27 shots and blanking Toronto for most of the second period and all of the third period. The Flames No. 1 goalie is now 12-8-2 on the season with a 2.91 goals-against average and .903 save percentage.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Two weeks ago, Toronto had what seemed like an insurmountable lead in the North Division standings. Now, they sit tied with Edmonton and only two points up on the Jets, thanks to a three game losing streak and six losses in their last seven games. Jason Spezza, Alexander Kerfoot and Mitch Marner all scored for the Leafs on Friday, but Frederik Andersen struggled again. Andersen, who is reportedly still dealing with a lower-body injury, has lost five of his last six starts and posted a 3.84 GAA and .862 SV in that time. For the season, Andersen is 13-8-2 with a 2.91 GAA and .897 SV.
One piece of good news for the Leafs on Friday was the return of Wayne Simmonds, who hadn’t played since suffering a broken hand on Feb. 6. Simmonds was plus-1 with an assist and six hits in a little over ten minutes of ice time. Alex Galchenyuk, who was picked up from Carolina last month, made his Toronto debut. The former 30-goal scorer was minus-2 with three shots and three hits.
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