Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens Prediction, NHL Odds
The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to gain some ground in the crowded Eastern Conference wild card race when they head to the Bell Centre on Saturday night for a date with the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto’s goaltending woes have been solved for the moment and they come into this contest off a 3-2 home win over New Jersey on Wednesday. Montreal, on the other hand, is in a race for the best draft lottery odds. The Habs lost 4-3 at home on Thursday against the Florida Panthers, in a battle between the top team in the Eastern Conference and the last place team in the NHL.
The Maple Leafs are -258 favourites to win on the NHL odds, with a total of 6.5.
Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens NHL Betting Odds
This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season. Toronto won 2-1 on Oct. 13, while Montreal came out on top 5-2 on Feb. 21. Of course, the Habs came from behind against the Leafs in the first round of last year’s playoffs, winning the series in seven games. With Montreal set to miss the playoffs this season, the last time the teams meet until next year will be April 9 in Toronto.
The Leafs have been a solid road team this season, going 17-11-3 away from Scotiabank Arena. They’re 26-37 against the spread, including 13-18 ATS on the road. The total has gone Over in eight of Toronto’s last 12 games.
The “new coach bump” seems to have officially worn off in Montreal, with the Canadiens dropping five of their last six games at home and four of their last five overall. They’re 31-33 ATS overall, with covers in 15 of 32 home games. The total has gone Over in nine of the Habs’ last 11 games.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto’s league-leading power play managed to get blanked on three opportunities on Wednesday, but the penalty kill unit stepped up, with Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall each burying a shorthanded goal. The Maple Leafs lead the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals this season. Mitch Marner also scored against the Devils, with his 27th goal of the season standing as a new career high. Petr Mrazek made 20 stops in his first game back since being placed on waivers. Defenceman Mark Giordano made his Leafs debut after coming over from Seattle at the trade deadline. Giordano played on the third pair, logging three hits and two blocked shots in just over 18 minutes of ice time. Auston Matthews picked up an assist and now leads Toronto with 80 points, including an NHL-best 46 goals.
With Jack Campbell still not ready to return from a rib injury, rookie Erik Kallgren has been announced as the starter on Saturday. Kallgren is 2-1-1 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in four careers starts. After outplaying Mrazek during Campbell’s injury absence, it’s very possible Kallgren will backup Campbell during the stretch run and playoffs, which would mean placing Mrazek back on waivers again.
Montreal Canadiens
Montreal didn’t have much of a chance on Thursday against an already juggernaut Florida team that only got better after the trade deadline. Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans and Paul Byron scored for the Canadiens, who were outshot in all three periods. Weirdly enough, both teams scored on their first shot of the game, less than a minute in. Jake Allen stopped 38 of 42 shots faced. Offence has been a major issue for this team. Montreal averages 2.52 goals per game, dead last in the NHL. They haven’t been much better on the power play, converting on 13.9 per cent of their chances, 30th in the NHL. Only five skaters have scored at least eight goals this season. Suzuki leads the team in both goals (18) and points (47).
Allen is expected to get the start in net again on Saturday. He’s posted a 6-17-4 record this season with a 3.13 GAA and .905 SV. Jonathan Drouin is out of the lineup indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Brendan Gallagher is expected to miss about another week with a lower-body injury.
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