Maple Leafs picks and props vs. Hurricanes March 16: Bet on underdog Toronto, Rielly to notch a point

The Toronto Maple Leafs host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saint Patrick's eve.

The pregame narrative: Toronto will be rocking its St. Pats uniforms and I'll be siding with the home squad as underdogs. Additionally, I'm expecting Morgan Rielly to register a point in tonight's contest.

NHL oddsas of 12:16 p.m. ET on 03/16/2024.

Maple Leafs picks and props vs. Hurricanes

Best Bet: Maple Leafs moneyline (+110)

Toronto is back at home on Saturday and I'm expecting a strong effort against one of the league's best teams.

The Maple Leafs continue to cruise past opponents that don't rhyme with the Foston Fruins. They've won 12 of their last 13 against all other teams and are coming off a dominant, 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Ilya Samsonov draws the start on Saturday and he's been excellent. The netminder owns a .933 save percentage across his last four starts, winning all of them.

Carolina is playing some solid hockey, too, scoring victories in four of its last five contests.

The Hurricanes have struggled with tougher competition recently, however, dropping three of their last four games to teams in a playoff spot.

Winning in Toronto has been very tough for opponents lately. The Maple Leafs have won seven of their last nine games at Scotiabank Arena.

Back the home team as an underdog on Saturday night.

Key stat: Toronto has won three of its last four home games against Carolina.

Quick pick

Rielly to score 1+ points (-115): Rielly is enjoying a quality offensive campaign and this is a nice price to back him at.

The Maple Leafs blueliner has 47 points in 60 games this season and enters this game in fine form.

He has a point in four of his last six games, finding the score sheet against playoff squads like the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers.

His usage is key to this wager. Rielly paces the team in minutes per game (23:55) and skates on the first defensive pairing and top power play.

Rielly will continue to be heavily deployed, especially in a big game like this one.