The Toronto Maple Leafs have rediscovered their spark from earlier this season and has been ripping off wins behind Jack Campbell in goal. Toronto has won four in a row and seven of its last eight games as it hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. Montreal has won four of its last five games to gain an stronger hold on the final playoff spot in the North Division, but the Canadiens are still not able to match the quality the Maple Leafs are going to throw at them in this matchup.
John Tavares has scored one goal and assisted on five others in his first four games against Montreal this season, so he’s been around goals this year against the Canadiens. He enters Wednesday’s game on a two-game goal-scoring streak, which makes the +205 odds from the hockey betting sites in New Jersey equally tantalizing. Tavares registered a goal and an assist in both games against Calgary over the weekend, and he’s part of a second line that could do a lot of damage against Montreal’s lesser defensive pairings with Toronto back on home ice for the first time in 10 days. JOHN TAVARES SCORES GOAL Toronto has scored at least four goals in three of the four meetings with Montreal earlier this season, which already makes the +240 odds from the legal sports betting sites in New Jersey worthwhile. The Maple Leafs also did so in consecutive games in Calgary over the weekend, and the offense tends to flow once the goals start coming. The massive lead in the division and return to home ice is only going to give the Maple Leafs more juice to punish the Canadiens on Wednesday. I have a lot of faith in a confident Toronto group to play loose and bring the scoring punch as they try to steamroll their way into the postseason. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS OVER 4 GOALS Both of Toronto’s wins in February over Montreal came by multiple goals and four of their last seven victories have been by at least two goals. The Maple Leafs defense has excelled in front of Jack Campbell, who has been brilliant since returning from injury on March 20. Without much value to bet on the Maple Leafs to win the game, I took the risk on the Maple Leafs being able to shut down a one-dimensional Montreal offense and be abel to flex their own offensive muscles. The +180 odds from the NHL betting sites in New Jersey aren’t the best, but it seems like good value for what should be another routine Toronto victory. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS -1.5 GOALS
Head to Head This is the fifth of 10 matchups this year between Toronto and Montreal. The Maple Leafs have won three of the previous four meetings this season. Stats Toronto has won seven of its last eight games despite its power play sputtering to a halt. The Maple Leafs have scored just once in 23 chances on the power play over the last eight games and have actually allowed two shorthanded goals during the stretch. Montreal leads the league with eight shorthanded goals despite ranking 25th on the penalty kill with just a 76 percent success rate. Artturi Lehkonen and Tyler Toffoli are tied for the team lead with two shorthanded goals each this year. Josh Anderson might be getting hot again for the Canadiens after a long dry spell. He scored nine times in the first 13 games of the season then scored just twice in the next 17 contests. However, he’s scored three goals in his last two games entering Wednesday’s matchup. Since returning from injury in late March, Jack Campbell is 6-0-0 with a .941 save percentage and just 10 goals allowed in six starts for the Maple Leafs. That brings his season total stats to 9-0-0 with a .944 save percentage and a 1.53 goals against average. .
Toronto Maple Leafs to win The Toronto Maple Leafs are back to destroying the competition in the North Division, which is not good for the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal has righted the ship in its own way with four wins in its last five games, but the Maple Leafs are a steamroller with wins in seven of their last eight games. Jack Campbell’s stellar goaltending has stabilized Toronto and allowed the offense to continue to bloom as they run away with the North Division. Without the high end talent to either match or slow down the Maple Leafs, it’s hard to pick Montreal in this matchup.
