Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, NHL Odds
The Toronto Maple Leafs look to halt a league-high six-game losing streak that has dumped them into the basement in the Atlantic Division standings when they host the slumping Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night in NHL betting action at Scotiabank Arena. The Maple Leafs saw their steady fall out of playoff contention continue with Thursday’s crushing 6-2 loss to the bottom-feeding New York Rangers, and now enter Saturday’s action eight points out of the wild card hunt in the East with just 19 19 games remaining on the schedule. The Lightning are experiencing a rough patch of their own, suffering defeats in their past four overall and their past four on the road, capped by Thursday’s 4-1 loss in Winnipeg, but remain perched atop the Atlantic Division standings.
The Maple Leafs return home as +150 underdogs on Saturday’s NHL odds. The Lightning are perched as -180 favourites on the NHL moneyline, and the total is listed at 6.5.
Lightning vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds
These long-time division rivals split their first two meetings of the season, with the Leafs skating to a 2-0 home win on December 8 before the Lightning snapped a five-game head-to-head losing streak with a 4-2 victory in Tampa on February 25. Overall, the Maple Leafs have topped the Lightning in seven of nine regular season dates at Scotiabank Arena, surrendering just 2.44 goals per game. But considering their recent performance, keeping things low scoring on Saturday night is a huge challenge. Overall, Toronto has been lit up for 4.50 goals per game during its six-game overall slide, and has surrendered 4.71 goals per game while losing seven straight at home. However, goals have come at a premium for the Lightning during their four-game swoon, with the club just two goals per game and just two total markers over their past two outings after winning 20 of their previous 22 contests.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning have failed to hold a lead during their four-game slide, thanks in large part to slow starts. The Bolts have surrendered eight total goals in first-period action during their 0-4-0 run, and have failed to score in the opening frame in four of their past five outings, starting with their win over the Leafs in late February. Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel has contributed the lion’s share of the club’s limited offence over the past two games with two
points each. Point has now tallied seven points in five games since his return from injury after the Olympic break and Guentzel has contributed five helpers overt that stretch. However, Hart Trophy candidate Nikita Kucherov has been relatively quiet, with just one goal over the past three games.5
Toronto Maple Leafs
It is tough to know where to start in the wake of the Leafs’ worst performance of the season. The club twice held leads early in before collapsing in the final frame in which the Rangers scored four times. Auston Matthews was held off the scoresheet for the second time in three games and his goal scoring drought now sits at 10 games. John Tavares and Matthew Knies both contributed assists, but the duo has combined to score just two total goals in the past five games. And with Bobby McMann leaving town for Seattle in a trade deadline deal, an important source of secondary scoring has been removed from the lineup. Matias Maccelli has embraced his opportunity to skate along Matthews and William Nylander, scoring in each of the past two games to extend his current points streak to four games. Nylander is also enjoying a four-game points streak, bulging the twine three times over that stretch.
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