Marc Andre-Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights will look to take care of business at home when they host Auston Matthews and the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs in a matchup of elite Stanley Cup-hopeful heavyweights on Thursday night. Now, with Vegas looking to improve their lackluster play recently and the Leafs looking to extend their winning ways, let’s find out where the best value in this highly-anticipated matchup lies.
Maple Leafs vs Golden Knights NHL Odds, Predictions & Pick
Twenty years ago today, the Leafs played their final game at Maple Leaf Gardens.
What’s your favourite memory from the Gardens, Leafs Nation? #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/rSsSTtQ4uq — Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) 14 de febrero de 2019
- When: Thursday, February 14, 2019 at 10:00 PM ET
- Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
- TV: SN-Ontario, ATT-RM
- Radio: Toronto / Vegas
- Live Stream: NHL.tv
- NHL Odds: Toronto +106/ Vegas -125 / Total: 6
Why Bet on Toronto?
Why should you consider betting on the Toronto Maple Leafs in this matchup? Hell…there are a bunch of good reasons to back the Leafs in this one. Toronto is elite at both ends of the ice in ranking fourth in scoring (3.5 gpg) and ninth in goals allowed (2.9 gpg).
In addition to that, the Maple Leafs are playing well right now, having won five of their last six games including a 5-2 smackdown of Colorado on Tuesday night. Kasperi Kapanen and Nazem Kadri both scored a pair of goals while Auston Matthews added another in the dominating win. Toronto scored three power play goals in the win.
“It was our power play,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said following Tuesday’s 5-2 victory over Colorado. “… When you don’t do good things, good things don’t happen. But when you start to do good things, you get competitive.”
Team Statistics
Offense- Goals: 3.57
- Shots: 31.80
- PP/PK Percentage: 21.23
- Goals: 2.84
- Shots: 32.73
- PP/PK Percentage: 18.75
Why Bet on Vegas?
Why should you consider betting on the Vegas Golden Knigths in this matchup? The best reasons to back the Knights are the fact that they’re elite at the defensive end of the ice in limiting the opposition to just 2.7 goals per game to rank fifth in goals allowed.
Not only that, but the Knights are also going to be a bit desperate in this one after dropping two straight and six of their last eight games overall, including their 5-2 loss to Arizona on Tuesday. The Knights got second period goals from Brandon Pirri and Nate Schmidt but veteran net-minder Marc-Andre Fleury took the loss by allowing four goals on 25 shots.
Team Statistics
Offense- Goals: 2.97
- Shots: 33.53
- PP/PK Percentage: 18.60
- Goals: 2.79
- Shots: 28.60
- PP/PK Percentage: 16.87
Maple Leafs vs Golden Knights NHL Betting Trends
- Toronto is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
- Toronto is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Toronto’s last 5 games
- Vegas is 1-7 ATS in its last 8 games
- Vegas is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Vegas’s last 6 games
Expert Analysis and Prediction for Maple Leafs vs Golden Knights
While I’m a huge Vegas and Marc Andre-Fleury fan, my good sense tells me that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the pick to win and cash in against the Knights in this Inter-Conference clash of big-time heavyweights. The Golden Knights have lost four straight at home and have struggled mightily to score in lighting the lamp just 17 times over their last eight games.
Toronto has gone 4-0 in their last four games against a team with a winning record and 5-1 in their last six games overall. Conversely, Vegas has gone 1-5 in their last six games as a favorite and 0-4 in their last four home games as a fave. I like the streaking Leafs to get the hard=-fought home win and you should too!
NHL Betting Pick: Toronto 3 Vegas 2
