New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: NHL Odds, Prediction

Sports Interaction Staff
Last Updated: November 6, 2017

Two Original Six teams face off Saturday night as the New York Rangers go north of the border to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. After an impressive season-opener from the Leafs, early NHL odds have them set as -165 favourites on Hockey Night in Canada.

Hockey Night in Canada: New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Moneyline: Toronto Maple Leafs -165

Date: Saturday, October 7, 7:00 PM ET

Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ont.

NHL Odds and Betting Analysis

The Blueshirts have bullied the Buds recently with Alain Vigneault’s squad winning six of the last seven matchups against the Leafs. New York is just 2-8 in its last 10 road games while the Leafs are only 20-41 in their last 61 games playing on Saturdays.

Toronto is the favorite to win the Atlantic Division at +212 according to the Sports Interaction NHL odds board, while the Rangers are the third choice in the Metropolitan Division at +422 behind the Pittsburgh Penguins (+180) and the Washington Capitals (+251).

New York Rangers

The Rangers lost their home opener on Thursday night 4-2 against the worst team in the league a season ago, the Colorado Avalanche. The setback goes against a recent trend of the Rangers getting off to fast starts. They won 13 of their first 17 games last season and 14 of 18 the year before.

New York outshot the Avs 39 to 26, including 15 whacks at the net on with the man advantage, and beat them 35-20 on face offs.

The Rangers played finished their preseason schedule on September 26 and goalie Henrik Lundqvist said the nine-day layoff was part of the reason for his shaky performance.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Leafs showed off their forward depth in Wednesday’s 7-2 win at Winnipeg. The Austin Matthews line produced four points, the Tyler Bozak line racked up seven points and the Nazem Kadri group chipped in with five. Free agent signee Patrick Marleau made a splash in his Leafs debut scored two goals in the final frame against the Jets. It was just the first game of the season, but it appears Toronto won’t be searching for goal production this year.