Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins Prediction, NHL Odds
The Bruins as short favourites on the NHL odds.
Maple Leafs vs. Bruins NHL Betting Odds
Toronto at Boston is the first of the Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader followed by Pittsburgh at Vancouver with a 10 p.m. ET puck drop. It’s the first of four regular-season matchups between the Leafs and Bruins.
Last regular season, Boston won all four matchups – two went to at least overtime. Bruins superstar David Pastrnak, always among the NHL scoring leaders, led the B’s with seven points in the series (2G, 5A), while Jake DeBrusk had six (2G, 4A). Jeremy Swayman went 3-0 with a 1.30 GA and .959 SV in his three starts in net, and Linus Ullmark allowed three goals in his lone win but is now in Ottawa. Auston Matthews (3G, 1A) led Toronto with four points. John Tavares had a goal and two assists but was minus-4 in the four games. Joseph Woll had a 3.97 GAA and .867 SV in his three starts in net, and Ilya Samsonov, now with Vegas, allowed two goals in his loss.
There’s a very realistic chance these division rivals meet in the playoffs this spring just like they did in the first round of the 2024 Eastern Conference playoffs with the Bruins getting the upper hand yet again thanks to a 2-1 overtime home win in Game 7 on a Pastrnak goal. Boston has now beaten Toronto in Game 7 of the first round of the playoffs three times in the last seven years. Swayman was opposite Samsonov in that Game 7.
The under is 5-1 in the past six regular-season meetings.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Projected No. 1 goaltender Joseph Woll was activated off the injured list and made his season debut on Thursday night, but it didn’t go well as the Leafs lost badly for the third time in four games, 5-1 at home to St. Louis. It was Toronto coach Craig Berube’s first game against the Blues since they fired him last December. The Maple Leafs were 0-for-3 on the power play and now a brutal 3-for-27 on the year. Blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson had the lone goal, his first with the team. Forward Max Pacioretty (two goals this year) was out with a lower-body injury suffered Tuesday and is day-to-day. It surely will be Anthony Stolarz in net here, and he has been fantastic with a 1.83 GAA and .938 SV in five appearances. The under is 5-1 in Toronto’s past six road games.
Boston Bruins
Boston lost its third straight game – in which it has totaled only three goals – on Thursday, 5-2 at home to Dallas even as the Stars started their backup goaltender. They scored four unanswered goals after David Pastrnak gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 11:57 of the first period. It was Pastrnak’s fifth goal of the year, and Justin Brazeau (first) had the other for Boston. Pastrnak’s 78 game-opening goals are the most among all players since Pastrnak’s NHL debut season in 2014-15. The Bruins allowed Dallas to score on three of five power-play opportunities. All three of those goals came in the second period, which tied a Stars franchise record for most PP goals in a period. Dallas had been 2-for-21 with the man advantage entering. Bruins star Brad Marchand has not scored a goal yet. It’s his longest season-opening goal drought since 2010-11, when it took nine games to score. Boston is 2-5 in its past seven at home.
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