Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Colorado Avalanche Prediction, NHL Odds
The Toronto Maple Leafs look for a season-high four-game win streak on Monday, when they open their Western Conference road trip in Colorado against the first-place Avalanche.
The Avs have won back-to-back games at home, moving their record at home to 19-0-2 on the year.
The NHL odds have the Avalanche as a heavy -250 favourite at home Monday, with the OVER/UNDER set at 6.5 goals. Puck drop from Ball Arena in Denver is set for 10 p.m. EST.
Maple Leafs vs. Avalanche NHL Betting Odds
This is the first meeting of the season between these squads, which has been a tight contest over the past five seasons, with each team winning one of their two-game sets. This matchup features tons of firepower and has played the OVER/UNDER 6-3-1 since 2019.
The Leafs have been playing solid defensive hockey over the course of their current three-game win streak, allowing just two goals after picking up a shutout in their most recent outing. They have hit the UNDER in three straight games, putting them to 24-17-3 on the OVER/UNDER this season. Toronto has scored four or more in six of its past nine games, moving into the top five for goals per game at 3.36.
After a season-high two-game skid, the Avalanche got right back to dominance, winning two in a row at home by a combined score of 12-2. They have had the best offence (4.05 goals per game) and the best defence (2.16 goals against per game) all season long, helping them to a 25-19 record against the spread. They have hit the OVER just once in their past four games, moving them to 19-20-5 on the OVER/UNDER.
Toronto Maple Leafs
After a disappointing first half, the Leafs are playing their best hockey of the season at the moment, riding a nine-game point streak and three consecutive wins. Their hot streak has dragged them up to sixth in the Atlantic Division, sitting one point out of a wild card position.
Their most recent win was a 5-0 crushing of the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday at home, featuring a 29-save shutout from Joseph Woll, a three-point night from William Nylander (1G, 2A) and goals from Max Domi (fifth), Matias Maccelli (seventh), John Tavares (16th), and Nicholas Robertson (10th). Despite their upward trend, the Leafs are still not favoured to make the playoffs on the NHL futures board, with a +140 payout to sneak in. With 38 games left on their schedule, they need to pass just three teams to get in. Their 51 points put them seven points behind the division-leading Red Wings, so a strong back half could be enough to get them in.
They are opening a tough four-game road trip on Monday, looking to improve their 6-10-2 record as the visitors.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche lost two in a row after a 10-game win streak, but got back on track this week, beating the Ottawa Senators 8-2 and, most recently, the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Saturday.
Rookie netminder Trent Miner recorded his first career shutout on Saturday, turning aside 29 shots in just his second start of the season. Brent Burns potted a pair of goals, giving him eight on the campaign, while Victor Olofsson (eighth) and Ilya Solovyov (first) also chipped in offensively.
The victory marked Colorado’s 17th straight win at home, moving its record at Ball Arena to 19-0-2.
It comes as no surprise that the Avs are favoured to clean up at the NHL awards this season, and the NHL futures board has them as the front-runners for a ton of them. Head Coach Jared Bednar is -102 for coach of the year, Nathan MacKinnon is -300 for the Hart and Cale Makar is -660 for the Norris. With that being said, they are obviously a popular pick to win the Cup, paying out at +240.
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