Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Florida Panthers Prediction, NHL Odds
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Edgar Chaput
It’s the part of the season when teams have decisions to make. Playoff berths have been earned and, in most cases, clubs know if they’ll be a road or home team in round one. How does a coach approach such contests? In Toronto’s case, they’ll want to tighten up after a 5-4 loss at home to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. The Panthers are still chasing first place in the Atlantic Division and helped themselves on Saturday by beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in overtime.
The NHL odds believe the Panthers will successfully defend home ice tonight, pricing them at -145 on the moneyline.
Maple Leafs vs. Panthers NHL Betting Odds
Tuesday will conclude the four-game regular season series between these increasingly familiar foes. The Leafs have captured the last two, and the home side has claimed all three contests thus far.
All eyes will be on Auston Matthews, who is one goal shy of the 70 mark this season. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has gone so far as to describe the excitement as a “distraction.” Perhaps, at least judging by the lackadaisical defensive efforts the past two outings, as the club has coughed up 11 goals in total. That their position in third place in the Atlantic Division is set in stone probably isn’t helping either. Toronto will finish 2023-23 well under .500 against the spread. With two games remaining, the team is only 31-49. They did cover on April 1 by beating Florida by two goals.
Florida’s fight for first place continues, so Tuesday will either be a preview of a first-round matchup if they can’t leapfrog the Bruins or just another game en route to a division crown. The weight of expectations can often skew what happens against pucklines for certain teams. No one doubts that the Panthers are one of the best teams in the NHL, yet they’re only 40-41 ATS. They are, at least, on a three-game winning streak in that regard. Carter Verhaeghe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are listed as day-to-day. Don’t be too surprised if they rest until puckdrop of the first game of the playoffs.
Toronto Maple Leafs
To coach Keefe’s point about the Matthews hoopla becoming a distraction, Thursday’s 6-5 defeat to the New Jersey Devils and Saturday’s 5-4 disappointing result against the Red Wings are interesting examples.
One thing is for sure, Matthews is playing with the sort of confidence one expects from a leading goal scorer. Succinctly, he looks awesome. Teammates are feeding off that energy. John Tavares has scored goals recently, and so have Mitchell Marner and Nicholas Robinson, who is playing essentially his first proper NHL campaign since the 2019 draft.
But the defence stinks, as does the goaltending. Ilya Samsonov has a nice record of 23-7-8, but the club has to score when he’s in net given the 3.13 GA/G. Is Joseph Woll the man of the hour? He just might be.
Florida Panthers
The Maple Leafs aren’t the only team with an expert sniper on their roster. Sam Reinhart recently hit the 50-goal plateau and has since increased his tally to 55. The latest touch of brilliance was his wrister in overtime versus Buffalo over the weekend to give the Floridians a 3-2 OT win.
Together with Alexander Barkov (78 points, 23 goals and 55 assists), Matthew Tkachuk (86 points, 26 goals and 60 assists), and Verhaeghe (when healthy), the Panthers are as dangerous as they come. The team is certainly playing like it wants the division, having won four of its last five games. The only defeat was a 3-2 result against the very club they’re chasing, Boston. Florida is the hungrier side heading into this game, which should favour them.
TOR
FLA