NHL Best Bets: Maple Leafs vs. Devils Game Picks

Two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference are set to face off tonight, with the Toronto Maple Leafs visiting the New Jersey Devils.

All Odds Courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

The Maple Leafs and Devils were both active ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline, and they both helped improve their clubs. These are two of the league’s most consistent threats, and although that doesn’t guarantee them playoff success, it’s certainly not a bad omen with the amount of success they’ve generated. The Devils are listed as slight home favorites tonight on the moneyline at -128, while the Maple Leafs are sitting at +106. 

This will be the third and final meeting between these clubs, which has originally seen the Maple Leafs pick up a 2-1 victory while the Devils replied with a 3-2 win. New Jersey enters this matchup playing good hockey, owning a 7-2-1 record over their past ten games. The Maple Leafs are dealing with some injuries and sit at 6-4 over that same sample size. 

Looking toward the projected goalie matchup tonight, the Maple Leafs are expected to start Ilya Samsonov, while the Devils should be countering with Vitek Vanecek. Toronto’s netminder has been vital in goal in his first season with the club, posting a 22-8-2 record, paired with a .915 save percentage. Vanecek has also played well, owning a 27-6-3 record, along with a .908 save percentage. There’s no significant edge in goal, with both goaltenders putting together good campaigns. 

There are a lot of injury concerns surrounding the Maple Leafs after their loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, while the Devils continue chugging along with consistency. As a result, there’s value in backing the home side on the moneyline, which is listed at an appetizing price of -128. 

Best Bet: Devils moneyline (-128) 

The interesting thing about this matchup is that the Maple Leafs and Devils are very strong two-way hockey clubs. Both teams sit in the top ten in the league in goals scored and allowed per game. In saying that, the two matchups they’ve registered have seen them combine for three and five goals, respectively. Over the Maple Leafs’ past five games, they’ve seen just one game combine for seven or more goals, while the Devils have seen that transpire in all five of their games. Even with those recent trends with New Jersey, expect this matchup to be of the lower-scoring variety. 

Best Bet: Under 6.5 (-108) 

We’ve already highlighted the amount of high-end talent in this contest, meaning there will be a lot of value in the goal-scoring department tonight. One player that warrants consideration here is newly acquired winger Timo Meier. The star forward made his debut for the Devils over the weekend and scored, which has now seen him tally 32 goals on the year. Meier will be an integral part of what this team does up front, and there’s definite value in what he’s bringing to the table tonight to score, where he’s priced at a very nice number of +120. 

Best Prop: Timo Meier to Record Over 0.5 Goals (+120)