Maple Leafs picks vs. Rangers Mar. 2: Bet on New York and the over
Two of the NHL's hottest teams battle on Saturday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs host the New York Rangers.
The pregame narrative: Toronto and New York have both impressed lately, but I'm siding with the underdog Blueshirts in this contest. Additionally, I'm backing the over with two of the league's best offences duking it out.
NHL oddsas of 12:15 p.m. ET on 03/02/2024.
Maple Leafs picks vs. Rangers
Best Bet: Rangers moneyline (+105)
It's hard to deny New York at this price.
The Rangers are tied for the highest win percentage (67%) in the NHL. They've won 11 of their last 12 games and weren't an underdog in any of those, according to Scores and Odds.
New York beat some heavy hitters during this stretch, including playoff teams in the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Toronto has won eight of its nine games, besting squads like the Avalanche, Flyers and Vegas Golden Knights. The team still has some questions between the pipes that need to be answered.
Ilya Samsonov will start on Saturday and he was very unimpressive in February. The netminder owned a 6-2-0 record but paired it with a concerning .888 save percentage.
His counterpart, Igor Shesterkin, was fantastic during the month. He was a perfect 7-0-0 with a sterling .953 save percentage to help turn his season around.
Back the better goalie and the better team in this matchup.
Key stat: New York's road record (19-10-3) is better than Toronto's home record (16-11-2).
Quick pick
Over 6.5 goals (-106): Samsonov's struggles are a big reason why I'm eyeing the over.
This is a red-hot Rangers offence. They've scored three-plus goals in eight of their last 11 games.
They should be able to fill the net against the Maple Leafs as Samsonov has allowed three or more in six of his last eight.
Conversely, it'd be foolish to not expect Toronto to contribute its fair share to this total. The Maple Leafs are second in the NHL in goals per game (3.66) and have scored four-plus goals in eight of their last nine.
