It’s not an extremely busy night for the NHL, with only three games to choose from for our bets. We’re going to be breaking down the Panthers at Rangers at 7:00 PM ET and the Kings at Maple Leafs at 7:30 PM ET.
You’re probably going to want multiple screens open tonight, so you don’t miss any of the action and, of course, one open to FanDuel Sportsbook.
The Leafs vs. Kings might be a closer game than the odds suggest, but that all depends on Toronto. The Leafs had a slow start to the season. However, Toronto’s offense has been heating up as of late. Captain John Tavares has five goals over the past five games, and Auston Matthews has put up a couple of two-goal games in his past three. We know from past seasons that, when hot, this Leafs’ offense is amongst the best in the league. So, we have to ask the question, can the Kings stop a red-hot Toronto offense? Anze Kopitar is one of the best defensive forwards in the game and will match up against either Matthews’ or Tavares’ line. However, even if Kopitar can shut one of those lines down, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to keep them both off the scoreboard. The Leafs and Kings are pretty similar when it comes to goals allowed per game and save percentage, so we think that’s pretty negligible as far as significantly affecting the result of this game. We expect Toronto’s offense to be the difference and for them to come away with the win.
The Picks: Leafs Moneyline (-285), Total Goals: Under 6 (-118), Any Time Goal Scorer: Auston Matthews (-112), Any Time Goal Scorer: John Tavares (+152)
