Maple Leafs vs. Senators Prediction: NHL Betting Odds
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Andrew Rogers
Toronto comes into the weekend trailing the Boston Bruins by six points with five games left in the regular season; the Leafs and Bruins will likely face off in the first round.
Maple Leafs vs Senators Betting Analysis
It has been a long, slow crawl to the finish line for the Senators, who have dropped 13 of their previous 19 home games and are just 2-10 SU in their last 12 games on one day of rest. But the Maple Leafs are by no means an iron-clad lock to prevail here: they’ve gone just 3-7 SU in their past 10 games away from Scotiabank Arena and have just two victories in their previous 12 away games against teams below .500 at home this season.
Oddsmakers are expecting plenty of fireworks in Kanata on Saturday night, pushing the total for this one all the way to 7. And Toronto is on an incredible run of overs, having gone 12-5 O/U in its previous 17 games and 9-2 in its last 11 against the Eastern Conference. And while Ottawa has gone 6-1-1 to the under in its past eight after allowing five or more goals last time out, these teams are 20-7-1 O/U in their past 28 head-to-head encounters.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Getting to this total will likely require a little special teams magic – but bettors shouldn’t expect much from a Toronto team that is lagging behind the league average in power-play success rate so far this month, ranking 16th at 18.8 percent. And while Ottawa hasn’t done much well of late, it has boasted one of the most impressive penalty-killing units in the league so far in March, posting an 87.9-percent proficiency rate that ranks fifth overall.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators come in having won 11 of the previous 15 meetings between the clubs – and while these teams are quite far apart in the standings, that didn’t prevent Ottawa from routing the Maple Leafs 6-2 in their most recent tilt March 17. And facing Toronto has seemingly brought out the best in the Senators’ offence, as they’ve scored three or more goals in each of the previous nine showdowns with Toronto.
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OTT