Florida Panthers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs: Odds, Prediction
This is the second of four meetings between these teams. Toronto heads to the Miami area next Tuesday and then welcomes the Panthers back to Air Canada Centre on March 28.
Panthers vs Maple Leafs Odds and Betting Analysis
On Nov. 2, the Leafs were slight NHL betting favourites at Florida but lost 2-1 in a shootout. It was an easy call for the game’s No. 1 star as Nick Bjugstad scored Florida’s only regulation goal and then the winner in the shootout in the fourth round. Roberto Luongo was the No. 2 star with 43 saves. Frederik Andersen stopped 42 for Toronto, and Nazem Kadri had the lone goal, tying it at 13:58 of the third. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the power play. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were both stopped in the shootout.
Andersen is 5-3-1 in nine career games vs. Florida with a 2.30 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. Matthews has two goals and an assist in six games against the Panthers. Kadri really lights them up with eight goals and 13 assists in 21 games.
There’s a continental divide of sorts in the Atlantic Division. There’s the Top 3 of Tampa Bay, Boston and Toronto, all legitimate Stanley Cup contenders, and then a huge drop-off to the rest of the group, led by the Panthers. They have a huge hill to climb to get a wild-card spot.
The home team has won five of the past six in this series.
Florida Panthers
Florida (26-24-6) had a three-game winning streak snapped Sunday in the second of a back-to-back as the team was crushed 7-2 in Winnipeg. It was the fourth time this season the Panthers allowed at least seven goals, and to no surprise they are 0-4 in those games. Luongo returned from a long injury absence in a win Saturday in Calgary so James Reimer was in there Sunday and was lit up for all seven goals. Look for it to be Luongo on Tuesday. He’s 7-6-1 with a 2.64 GAA and a .927 save percentage in 16 games this season and 21-9-3 with a 2.20 GAA and .929 SV in 35 career games vs. Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs (36-20-5) lost at two-time Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh on Saturday but rebounded for a 3-2 win in the Motor City on Sunday behind backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney. He made 27 saves. Matthews scored the game winner with just 30.2 seconds remaining, his 27th goal of the season and 25th at even strength. He had gone three games without a goal. James van Riemsdyk and Marner (ninth point in past five games) also scored for Toronto, which is now 6-4-1 in the second of a back-to-back this season and 14-7-3 in games following a loss.
