Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, NHL Odds
Toronto opened as -170 favourites to win on the NHL odds in their regular-season home finale.
Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs NHL Betting Odds
This is the first game of the Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader on Saturday followed by a potentially huge Vancouver at Edmonton matchup. Detroit hasn’t made the playoffs since 2015, which was the last of the franchise’s 25 straight postseason appearances, a record for the four major American professional sports leagues. The Wings probably aren’t going to be playing extra hockey this year, either, but the arrow is definitely pointing up. All they need is a true No. 1 goaltender in this writer’s opinion as the likes of Ville Husso, Alex Lyon and James Reimer are more suited to backup roles. Husso started this season as the No. 1 but wasn’t good and hasn’t played since Feb. 13 due to injury. He has been limited to 19 total games.
Saturday is the third and final meeting between the teams and the winner claims the series as the Leafs prevailed 3-2 on Nov. 17 in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of the NHL Global Series (rallying from down 2-0 in the third), and the Wings won 4-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Jan. 14 – thus, Toronto will not visit Detroit at all. That’s often a popular short trip for Leafs fans as you can get tickets much easier to Red Wings home games.
William Nylander (1G, 2A), John Tavares (1G, 2A) and Tyler Bertuzzi (2G, 1A) lead Toronto with three points each in the season series. Ilya Samsonov started both in net. A handful of players lead the Red Wings with two points, and both Daniel Sprong and Lucas Raymond have two goals each. Lyon lost his start in net and Reimer, the former Maple Leaf, won his.
Toronto has won seven of the past 10 overall vs. Detroit and the over-under is 4-5-1.
Detroit Red Wings
Detroit has not been eliminated from contention for the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot but suffered a very damaging 6-5 overtime loss at fellow WC contender Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Although, getting a point was huge especially as Detroit trailed 5-3 with about seven minutes left in regulation before Erik Karlsson won it at 1:40 of OT. Lucas Raymond had a hat trick and assist in a losing effort. He leads the team with 68 points and is going to cash in big time this summer as a restricted free agent. Raymond is also one of only four Red Wings players in the previous 30 years to record at least 28 goals in a season at age 22 or younger. Alex Lyon struggled in his sixth straight start in net, so it might be James Reimer on Saturday. Forwards Andrew Copp (33 points) and Michael Rasmussen (also 33 points) were both out injured and are day-to-day. Detroit is 1-10 in its past 11 on the road.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto doesn’t have a ton to play for as it’s almost surely finishing third in the Atlantic Division no matter what happens in the final three games. The Leafs had a three-game winning streak snapped Thursday in a 6-5 home loss to eliminated New Jersey. Hugely entertaining game with at least three goals scored in each period. Jesper Bratt won it at 18:46 of the third. Auston Matthews had two goals and is up to 68 in the chase for the coveted 70-goal mark; he has a seven-game goals streak. Both Matthews goals were at even strength, giving him 274 career. That passed Mats Sundin (273) for the most in Maple Leafs history. It was Matthews’ 18th multi-goal game of the season. John Tavares also had two goals. Mitchell Marner had two assists and has a four-game points streak since his return from injury. Ilya Samsonov had a rough night in net, so he might get Saturday off in favour of Joseph Woll. Toronto is 8-3 in its past 11 at home vs. Detroit.
DET
TOR