Maple Leafs vs. Predators picks and odds: Back Toronto to win in regulation
The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Nashville Predators tonight at Bridgestone Arena.
The pregame narrative: Toronto ran into a hot goalie last night but that shouldn’t discourage the Leafs from finding offence in the Music City. We’re backing the Leafs to win in regulation and go over their shot total in what should be a high-scoring game.
NHL odds as of 10:30 a.m. on 03/26/2023.
Maple Leafs vs. Predators picks
Best Bet: Maple Leafs 60-minute moneyline (-108)
The Leafs must have walked out of PNC Arena last night feeling short-changed.
They racked up 44 shots on goal and registered 4.32 expected goals to the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2.76 — according to MoneyPuck — but lost 5-3. It was an encouraging performance, though, and we expect Toronto to bounce back and roll over Nashville tonight.
Joseph Woll will likely start in goal for Toronto since Matt Murray played last night and Ilya Samsonov is absent due to personal reasons. The 24-year-old netminder has been stellar in the AHL this season and has won five of his seven career NHL starts in regulation.
The Leafs’ offence has been averaging north of four goals per game over its past five contests (4.2) and the Predators aren’t exactly defensive stalwarts, either.
Nashville allows the seventh-most shots per 60 (32.8) and the 12th-most high-danger chances per 60 (12.96), according to NaturalStatTrick.
Key stat: Toronto has followed up nine of its last 10 losses with a regulation win.
Quick picks
Over 6 goals (-124): This is a modest goal total when you consider the way the Leafs and Predators are playing right now.
The over has hit in each of the Leafs’ past five contests with an average of 8.2 goals being scored in that span. We expect that trend to continue tonight.
The Predators, meanwhile, have cleared this total in three of their past five games with an average of 6.8 goals being scored in those contests.
Maple Leafs over 32.5 shots: The Leafs had 44 shots on goal last night and that was against one of the league’s best defensive teams.
We’re not asking too much of them against a Predators team that struggles to defend.
Nashville gave up 39 shots to the Seattle Kraken last night and has allowed its opponents to clear this mark in three of its past five games.
