The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to tally their fifth win in their last six games when they travel to Carolina on Friday to battle the struggling Hurricanes as +115 betting underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
It has been an impressive turnaround for the Leafs, who have come to life after posting just two wins in their first 14 games by handing Dallas and Nashville losses on the road before rocking the Colorado Avalanche by a 5-1 count on Tuesday night in their first game as betting chalk in three weeks.
With 16 points Toronto enters Friday night’s Maple Leafs vs. Hurricanes betting matchup within striking distance of a coveted playoff spot in the underachieving Atlantic Division, where the Montreal Canadiens remain the sole team with a winning record.
However, the club remains a distant 100/1 on the odds to win the Stanley Cup.
Carolina hosts the Leafs in the final game of a four-game homestand, and amid a brutal four-game losing streak in which they have scored just five total goals.
With just one win in their last seven the Hurricanes have tumbled into last place in the Metropolitan Division but have owned the Leafs in recent meetings, going 9-2 in their last 11 matchups, and are 8-0 in their last eight at home against Toronto.
Following Friday’s matchup the Leafs battle the Boston Bruins in a home-and-home series on Saturday and Monday, while the Hurricanes play host to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
The Habs have slipped from their perch atop the Stanley Cup odds, a spot now held by the Stars at 7/1. Montreal has struggled to play .500 hockey since opening the season with nine straight wins, falling back to 9/1 on the Cup odds while the New York Rangers have moved up to 8/1.
The Canadiens play a home-and-home against the New York Islanders on Friday and Sunday before returning to New York for a showdown with the Rangers next week.
The Kings, meanwhile, have won 12 of their last 15 games, lifting them to 10/1 on the odds to win the Stanley Cup, joined by the Washington Capitals and the Chicago Blackhawks, while the St. Louis Blues and the Anaheim Ducks each sport 14/1 odds.
The struggling Winnipeg Jets sit in the middle of the pack at 40/1, ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators at 50/1, and the Calgary Flames at 66/1, while the hard-luck Edmonton Oilers join the Leafs at 100/1.