Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens Prediction: NHL Betting Odds
The best rivalry in the NHL is renewed to conclude the regular season on Saturday night as Toronto visits Montreal. It means nothing for the Maple Leafs and potentially everything for the Canadiens.
Maple Leafs vs Canadiens Betting Analysis
What do you do if you are Leafs coach Mike Babcock on Saturday? Your team is locked into third place in the Atlantic Division and will open the Stanley Cup playoffs against the hated Boston Bruins (again). Do you rest key players on Saturday to avoid injury? Or, do you play them all with the possibility of keeping another blood rival, the Canadiens, out of the post-season?
If Montreal needed any more motivation on its side, it looks to avoid the four-game season sweep for the second straight year. The one meeting at Bell Centre was a 4-3 overtime Leafs win on Feb. 9 as John Tavares scored at 2:17 of OT. Toronto rallied twice from one-goal deficits.
Overall, Norris Trophy candidate Morgan Rielly leads Toronto with five points (5A) against the Canadiens this season, while Tavares (2G, 2A) and Auston Matthews (3G, 1A) each have four. Frederik Andersen won all three with a 2.62 goals-against average and .927 save per centage.
Andrew Shaw (3G, 2A) and Max Domi (5A) lead Montreal with five points each vs. Toronto. Carey Price is 0-1-2 with a 3.63 GAA and .882 SV.
Montreal has won seven of the past 10 at home in the series, with the over/under 4-5-1 in those.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs lost their second straight Thursday, 3-1 to the league-best Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the regular-season home schedule. Mitch Marner had the lone goal, his eighth point in the past eight games. He’s going to finish as the team’s leading scorer with 93 points (26G, 67A). Andersen allowed two goals on 28 shots and is 36-15-6 with a 2.70 GAA and .918 SV. He’s expected to play Saturday even though it’s meaningless. However, Nazem Kadri will not simply for rest and didn’t play Thursday. Blueliner Jake Muzzin also sat Thursday and will here. A few others may as well.
Montreal Canadiens
There’s one playoff spot in the East left and it will go to either Columbus or Montreal, with them tied at 94 points. The Blue Jackets would win any tiebreaker and had a game in hand entering Friday. Columbus was at the New York Rangers on Friday and then visits league-worst Ottawa on Saturday. So, the Canadiens might have nothing to play for vs. Toronto with the wrong Columbus result on Friday, and it seems unlikely the Blue Jackets would lose both games. Thursday’s 2-1 loss in Washington was crushing for Montreal. Shea Weber had the lone goal and is up to 14 in 57 games.
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