Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings Prediction, NHL Odds
Toronto will be playing its first back-to-back of 2023 after winning its third consecutive game last night.
This will be the second meeting this week between these storied franchises and the Maple Leafs are the -148 favourite to win on the NHL odds with the total set at 6.5.
Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings NHL Betting Odds
The Leafs won their most recent head-to-head 4-1 on Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in the season series. Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist, while John Tavares scored twice. The duo leads the series in scoring with three points (2G 1A) and a game-winning goal each. Both games in the series have played Under the 6.5 total, making it three straight regular-season meetings to go that way.
Toronto has played impressive defensive hockey this season, allowing just 2.6 goals per game (third-best in NHL). That has been consistent during their current three-game win streak, holding their opponents to two or fewer in each of those games. They have played the under in three of their past four games bumping them to 17-24-1 on the Over/Under. Despite their 7-2-1 record in their past 10 games, they have only covered the spread in four of those games and they have only covered the spread in 17 of their 42 games this season.
The Red Wings’ offence exploded for seven goals in their most recent outing, helping break a trend of four straight games that played the Under and brought their record to 17-21-1 on the Over/Under. The Wings have covered in six of their last ten games despite a 4-5-1 record over that stretch. They have an impressive 21-18 ATS. Detroit will need to tighten up defensively to bring themselves back into a playoff spot, they sit in the bottom 10 in the league when it comes to goals against per game (3.4).
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs squeaked out a 2-1 win over the red-hot Nashville Predators last night, thanks to Mitch Marner’s power-play goal (16th) with just over a minute left in the game. The goal extended Marner’s points streak to 18 straight games on home ice and the Leafs’ win streak to three games.
William Nylander picked up two assists and John Tavares notched his 20th goal of the season giving home goals in four straight. Goalie Matt Murray made 29 saves for his 11th win of the season, he has started five of the Leafs’ past seven games and has posted a .919 save percentage so far this season.
Auston Matthews missed his first game of the season with an undisclosed injury and is still listed as day-to-day as Toronto opens a two-game road trip.
Ilya Samsonov will likely get the start tonight in Detroit, while Murray will get some rest before a big matchup against the division-leading Bruins on Saturday.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings snapped a three-game skid on Tuesday night with a big 7-5 upset win over the Winnipeg Jets. They came out flying in the first period, scoring three consecutive goals in the opening 15 minutes of the game. The Jets would battle back and bring it within one midway through the second before Dylan Larkin would score his team-leading 14th of the season on powerplay snapping a five-game goalless drought.
Lucas Raymond would seal it for the Wings into the empty net to cap off his three-point night, not to be out-shined by defenceman Moritz Seider who would end the game with four assists. Seven different players scored for Detroit, as team depth has been their bread and butter this season. Ville Husso stopped 32 of 37 to win his 13th game of the campaign.
The offensive explosion was a breath of fresh air for Wings fans after seeing their team being held to two goals or fewer in their previous three games.
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