The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking for a sixth straight regular-season win over Boston on home ice when they host the Bruins on Saturday as minus-159 favourites on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto is coming off a much-needed 4-2 win in New Jersey on Thursday night but has struggled at home of late, falling to defeat in three of four ahead of Saturday night’s game at Scotiabank Arena.
[snippet id=4269767]
The Maple Leafs’ recent home slide coincides with the loss of starting goaltender Frederik Andersen to injury, and has featured a pair of 4-0 losses to the Nashville Predators and New York Islanders. While Andersen’s status for Saturday remains questionable, the Maple Leafs have regularly outclassed Boston recently, outgunning the Bruins by a 19-10 margin over their five-game regular-season home win streak.
Another victory on Saturday would give Toronto some breathing room in the Atlantic Division standings. The Maple Leafs maintain a slim four-point lead over the third-place Bruins, who have played some of their best hockey of the season during an 11-5-0 run that began on Dec. 8 with a decisive 6-3 victory over Toronto as plus-115 home underdogs.
Elsewhere on the Saturday NHL slate, the Montreal Canadiens look to end a two-game home losing streak as they take on the slumping Colorado Avalanche as minus-125 betting favourites.
Late night action has the Ottawa Senators visiting the red-hot San Jose Sharks as heavy plus-250 underdogs, while the Edmonton Oilers look to tally consecutive wins on home ice for the first time in four weeks as they host the Arizona Coyotes as minus-140 favourites.
The Canadiens’ offensive woes continued in Thursday’s 4-1 loss in St. Louis at plus-110 odds. Montreal has now lost three of four and has tallied just seven total goals over its past five outings, fuelling a 6-0 run for the UNDER in totals betting, according to the OddsShark NHL Database.
Conversely, stopping pucks has emerged as an issue for the Avalanche during a 4-10-3 run that threatens their playoff chances. Colorado has surrendered 4.29 goals per game during its slide, and 12 goals over two losses to open its current five-game road trip. The Avalanche have also been outscored by a wide 14-3 margin in two consecutive losses in Montreal.
The Senators have impressed during their current California swing, surrendering just two total goals in wins over Los Angeles and Anaheim to halt an eight-game slide. The Oilers have also shown signs of a turnaround, winning three of five after losing six straight, capped by Thursday’s 4-3 win over Florida as plus-120 home favourites.
[relatedlinks]
