The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to sweep their season series with Washington when they host the Capitals on Thursday as -160 favourites on the NHL odds at sports books monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto outgunned Washington by a wide 10-5 margin over a pair of wins earlier this season, but struggled at times during its recently concluded five-game road swing through the Western Conference, falling to defeat in three of five contests going into Thursday night’s game at Scotiabank Arena.
The Maple Leafs offence has sputtered in their past two outings, potting just two total goals while dropping decisions in Arizona and St. Louis. Toronto has also lost ground to Boston and returns home trailing the Bruins in the Atlantic Division standings. However, the Maple Leafs continue to outpace the Bruins on the Stanley Cup odds, where they remain knotted with Calgary and San Jose at +700 on those NHL futures.
The Capitals arrive in Toronto as +140 underdogs after continuing a six-game road trip with a narrow 3-2 win in Los Angeles as a -115 wager on Monday night, but they have tallied consecutive victories just once during a shaky 6-8-3 run.
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Elsewhere on the Thursday NHL odds, the Montreal Canadiens look to end a five-game losing streak against Philadelphia as they host the Flyers as -135 chalk.
The Ottawa Senators will be trying to tune out intense speculation enveloping the club ahead of Monday’s NHL Trade Deadline as they visit the New Jersey Devils as +120 underdogs, while the Vancouver Canucks look to gain ground in the hunt for a Western Conference wild card as they host the Coyotes as -140 favourites.
The Canadiens put the brakes on a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Columbus as -130 home favourites at sports betting sites on Tuesday, but they have been outclassed in recent home dates with Philadelphia, scoring just two total goals in a pair of losses. Montreal has also dropped three of its past four home dates with Eastern opponents.
Conversely, the Flyers hit the ice at Bell Centre with wins in 13 of their past 17 games, and have surrendered just 10 total goals over five straight road victories.
The status of Mark Stone and Matt Duchene remains uncertain heading into the finale of the Senators’ four-game road trip. The two Ottawa star forwards have been the topic of intense trade speculation, with the odds of Stone being traded before Monday’s deadline pegged at -140, while Duchene sports -150 odds of being shipped out of the nation’s capital.
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