Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals Prediction, NHL Odds
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue on the road this weekend where they first face off with the Washington Capitals on Friday evening.
The Leafs are back at .500 on the season after a 2-1 overtime win at Columbus on Wednesday, getting them out of last in the Atlantic Division. Toronto comes into Friday having won just two of their last nine outings, which makes this back-to-back stretch on Friday and Saturday a big opportunity to get out of a funk.
Washington’s pulled off wins in five of their last six outings and a big reason why is their ability to score in bunches. The Capitals rank sixth in the NHL with 3.33 goals per game, which is just ahead of Toronto’s 3.30 goals per game pace.
Puck drop at Capital One Arena is set for 5 p.m. EST with Washington a -150 favourite on the moneyline and the over-under at six on the NHL odds.
Maple Leafs vs. Capitals NHL Betting Odds
Toronto is 2-6 outright on the road this season but that result tends to swing the other direction when they visit Washington, as Toronto’s come out on top in five of their last six visits there. The Leafs have won nine of their last 12 meetings with the Capitals overall.
The over is 6-2 in Toronto’s eight road outings this season and Washington comes in having four of their last five contests go over. Both clubs are top seven in the NHL in scoring, and that’s not to mention the fact two of the best goal-scorers are facing off in Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin. And if you recall Ovechkin terrorizing the Leafs in past years, you remember correctly as he’s scored 45 times in 61 career games against Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Joseph Woll is a busy man in Toronto’s crease, although he’s bound to get either Friday or Saturday off during this back-to-back. With Anthony Stolarz still injured, Woll has made five straight starts since returning from his own injury. And Woll’s been fantastic, going 2-2-1 in his five outings but doing so with a .921 save percentage. Woll turned away 35 of 36 shots faced on Wednesday at Columbus, allowing William Nylander the chance to end it in overtime and give Toronto a much-needed 2-1 victory.
Toronto got all of Auston Matthews, Mathew Knies, and Nicolas Roy back from injury on Wednesday which goes without saying is a big boost to their offence. Knies is well over a point-a-game on the season so the focus remains on Matthews, who has just nine goals and five assists in 18 games played this season.
Washington Capitals
At 40 years old, Alex Ovechkin still isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. The greatest goal-scorer in NHL history has six of them in his last six outings and is now second on the team with 11 goals so far, one behind Tom Wilson for the lead. But the depth of the Capitals is really what’s making this team tick of as of late. Defencemen John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun both scored in Wednesday’s 4-3 win versus Winnipeg and these two are playing lights out. Chychrun’s nine goals are tied for the NHL lead by a defenceman this season, and he and Carlson are tied with Ovechkin for second on the team with 22 points.
Canadian Logan Thompson should be between the pipes on Friday and the 28-year-old continues to play well in net, posting a 9-6-1 record with a .912 save percentage. Thompson is vying for a spot on Team Canada in the Winter Olympics, and a strong outing against Toronto can only help his case.
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