Carolina Hurricanes vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, NHL Odds
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Edgar Chaput
Carolina and Toronto and heading in opposite directions these days. The Hurricanes swept away the Montreal Canadiens at home on Thursday 5-3 while the Maple Leafs fell to the Blue Jackets on the road on Friday, 6-5 in overtime.
Despite their recent turmoil, the Maple Leafs aren’t forsaken by the NHL odds. They sit at -110 on the moneyline, as do the Hurricanes, making this a “pick’em” game.
Hurricanes vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds
These sides have not met this season, thus opening a new chapter in their story just as 2023 closes. There was a trio of meetings during the 2022-2023 campaign, the first two of which were claimed by the Leafs, with the Hurricanes saving face from getting swept in the third. Of note, all of those matches were decided by more than one goal. That Carolina victory halted an overall four-game winning streak for Toronto in the head-to-head series.
Even though Rod Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes outfit is 19-13-4 overall, against the puckline it has only mustered a 13-23. The relative success of their previous years means that the NHL odds look favourably on them for nearly every match. Not helping matters is some dubious goaltending that has sunk them all too often. They rank only 15th in the NHL, giving up 3.14 goals a match. Antti Raanta’s play has fallen off a cliff since last year (3.56 GAA and .855 SP).
Toronto’s misery versus the spread continued on Friday night. The defeat to Columbus dropped them to 9-22. There are only so many ways the same thing can be written time and again. On the plus side, the Maple Leafs continue to tear through defences and opposing goalies like they were wet tissue. They have three players in the top 20 in scoring: William Nylander (48 points) Auston Matthews (44 points), and Mitchell Marner (38 points). That said, netminder Joseph Woll can’t come back soon enough from injury.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes returned from the Christmas break with a duo of wins over the Nashville Predators (5-2 away) and Montreal Canadiens (5-3 at home). The test against the Maple Leafs should be sterner and some lessons learned from the Montreal game.
Carolina started brilliantly, putting two past the Habs thanks to Andrei Svechnikov (fourth) and Jesper Fast (third), with the game looking quite secure in the opening 12 minutes. Not so. The visitors would net twice before the period was done and even had a goal disallowed on a third occasion. Excellent forechecking in the Canadiens’ zone early in the second period resulted in a powerful one-timer from Fast (fourth), but Carolina could not hold on to that lead either, relinquishing it in the third off a turnover. Svechnikov would have the last laugh, scoring the game-winner and an empty netter to complete a hat trick. A performance deserving of the win, if imperfect, with Raanta struggling once again (three goals on 18 shots).
Toronto Maple Leafs
Speaking of imperfect performances, the Maple Leafs delivered one on Friday in Columbus versus the Blue Jackets. It’s obvious for everyone to see that as dangerous as Toronto is when they have the puck – and they’re lethal – the issues in the back are too great for the offence to compensate for.
After giving a bizarre goal to Ottawa on Wednesday, another curious shot found its way in the net on Friday. Illya Samsonov – another goalie navigating rough waters – failed to handle a relatively simple wrist shot that bounced off his glove, over him and into the cage. Leads of 1-0, 3-1, 4-2, and 5-4 could not be protected. That’s very bad, especially against a beatable opponent. Worse, Toronto only conceded 21 shots…
The big guns scored like John Tavares, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews (NHL-leading 29th goal) and the power play units went a solid 2-for-4. But this is becoming alarmingly like what ails the Edmonton Oilers.