The Toronto Maple Leafs will get a chance to strengthen their position atop the North Division when they continue a three-game set against the slumping Vancouver Canucks on Saturday as -185 home favourites on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto opened the series on Thursday with a decisive 7-3 victory, and has now earned at least a point in nine of its 11 outings going into Saturday night's game at Scotiabank Arena.
Thursday's win as -165 chalk at online sports betting sites marked the Maple Leafs' biggest victory of the season so far, and also put an end to a stretch of four straight contests settled by a single goal. Toronto has now posted wins in each of its past three overall meetings with Vancouver, and is unbeaten in eight home dates with the Canucks since 2013.
Losers of three straight, the Canucks look to Saturday night's contest as +160 underdogs. The team has endured a streaky start to the season, with their current slide coming on the heels of a promising four-game win streak. Defence has been a massive issue so far this year for the Canucks, who have surrendered 18 total goals during their current swoon. The road has been particularly unkind, with the Canucks racking up a 2-6-0 record away from Rogers Arena, with each of those defeats coming by multi-goal margins.
Elsewhere on the Saturday NHL odds, the Montreal Canadiens look to rebound from Thursday's 3-2 loss to Ottawa as they wrap up a home-and-home series with the Senators as consensus -235 chalk.
The Canadiens have enjoyed a strong start that leaves them trailing Toronto by just a single point in the North Division standings. However, the team struggled to maintain momentum on offence during their recent five-game homestand, scoring just two goals on two occasions while going a middling 3-2-0.
The Senators will try to tally consecutive wins for the first time in 11 months as they host the Canadiens on Saturday afternoon. Ottawa has endured a brutal start to the season, marked by the nine-game losing streak that the team brought to a halt on Thursday night despite being outshot by a wide 38-22 margin. Things get no easier on home ice, where the Senators have lost three straight to Montreal while being outscored by a 10-3 margin.
And later on Saturday night, the Battle of Alberta is rekindled as the Calgary Flames host the Edmonton Oilers as -120 moneyline favourites. The Oilers ride a three-game win streak thanks to a two-game sweep of Ottawa earlier this week, while the Flames will be looking to rebound from back-to-back road losses to the Winnipeg Jets.
