Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs prop bets: Pick Auston Matthews to stay hot
The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs battle on Saturday night.
The pregame narrative: Auston Matthews is shooting the puck like a madman and we’re expecting that to continue against Montreal. William Nylander isn’t producing with any sort of regularity, making him a good pick to go under his shot total. Lastly, we’re taking Mike Matheson to record a point.
NHL odds as of 11:11 a.m. on 04/08/2023.
Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs prop bets
Best Bet: Matthews over 4.5 shots on goal (-130)
Taking Matthews to usurp his shot total is reaching auto-bet territory at this point.
The Toronto sniper is looking like his old self, overwhelming puck-stoppers with immense shooting volume. He has 98 shots in 18 games since March, averaging 5.4 shots per contest over this stretch.
His shots numbers are even more impressive when comparing them across the league. No player in the NHL has put more pucks on goal since March 1 than Matthews.
The matchup is a plus, also, as the Canadiens struggle to limit opposing teams’ shot totals. Montreal is ceding 33.6 shots per game this season, the fifth-most in the NHL.
Anticipate another busy night from Matthews.
Key stat: Matthews has taken five-plus shots in 10 of his last 14 outings.
Quick picks
Nylander under 3.5 shots (-118): Unlike Matthews, Nylander’s shot volume is undergoing a dip. Despite averaging a respectable 3.45 pucks on net this season, he’s falling short of this mark frequently. The winger has gone under a 3.5-shot total in 10 of his last 12 appearances.
Until Nylander starts topping this mark with some sort of regularity, bettors are wise to fade him.
Matheson to score 1+ point (-114): Matheson is quietly having a nice offensive season in Montreal. Only appearing in 45 contests, he has 33 points and is somehow a plus-six on a team with a minus-66 goal differential.
He’s coming off a three-point performance against the Washington Capitals and benefits greatly from his deployment. He’s averaging 24:31 in time on ice while playing on the top pairing and first power-play unit.
