Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Calgary Flames Prediction, NHL Odds
The Flames will be plenty rested when Toronto heads to town on Sunday. Calgary hasn’t played since Monday, but they’re coming into this game with points in all three of their games, including two wins over Vancouver. Toronto has had the busier schedule, picking up four wins in six games.
Calgary is a slim -116 favourite on the NHL odds, with a total of 6.5 goals.
Maple Leafs vs. Flames Betting Analysis
Sports Interaction bettors like Toronto on the road in this game, with 66 per cent taking the Leafs, despite Toronto losing both meetings with Calgary, last season. The Flames dropped the Leafs 4-2 at home, before winning a 2-1 shootout in Toronto. With two low scoring games between these teams last season, it isn’t too surprising to see 100 per cent of bettors taking the under at 6.5 goals. The total has gone under in six of the last eight games between these teams, while Calgary has won 11 of the last 14 games at home against Toronto.
Toronto didn’t cover in either of their road games against Ottawa, this season, putting them at 2-4 against the spread for the year. The Leafs still haven’t found their scoring touch, missing the over in four of their six games.
There’s not much of a sample size for Calgary, but they’ve hit the over in two of their three games on the year, covering the spread in both of their wins.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs are fresh off splitting a two-game set at home against the Oilers, while the biggest question mark in this game is the availability of Auston Matthews. After scoring his second goal of the season in Toronto’s 3-1 loss to the Oilers on Wednesday, Matthews was held out of the Leafs’ 4-2 win over Edmonton on Friday for an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day. It doesn’t look like a serious injury and it could be more about rest than anything else. While Matthews’ teammate, Mitch Marner, averages the most minutes played per game among NHL forwards this season (24:25), Matthews is just behind him at 23:24.
A Toronto player who will definitely miss Sunday’s game is Joe Thornton, who is expected to miss about a month with a rib fracture sustained on Wednesday against Edmonton. The loss of Thornton long term should provide some opportunities for depth players. With Thornton and Matthews both out on Friday, Adam Brooks made his season debut and scored his first NHL goal. There’s not a lot of scoring talent on this team, outside of the big four of Matthews, Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, so when a player like Matthews goes down, the other stars need to step their game up even more. Marner finished with a goal and an assist on Friday, while Nylander had two assists and Tavares added a power play goal.
Calgary Flames
After an opening night overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the Flames took down the Canucks twice, including a 5-2 win on Monday, leading to a five day break, so we should see a well-rested Calgary team on Sunday. Picking up Jacob Markstrom in free agency seems to have ended the Flames long search for a starting goalie. Markstrom is 2-0-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage, and he looks like he’ll be able to steal a few games for Calgary, this season.
After an off-year that saw him drop to 58 points in 70 games, Johnny Gaudreau looks like he’s found his scoring touch again. Gaudreau’s four points (2G, 2A) puts him in a tie with Elias Lindholm (2G, 2A) and Sean Monahan (1G, 3A) for the team lead. Part of the reason we’re seeing a turnaround from these players is Calgary’s lethal power play. The Flames have scored on the man advantage in all three of their games, including going a perfect 3-for-3 in their 3-0 win over Vancouver on Saturday.
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