NHL Best Bets: Avalanche vs. Maple Leafs Game Picks

Two of the top contenders for the Stanley Cup will collide tonight, with the Toronto Maple Leafs playing host to the Colorado Avalanche.

All Odds Courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

There’s a lot to like about the makeup of the Avalanche and Maple Leafs, even with some injuries in this matchup. This will be the second meeting between these clubs, which initially saw the Maple Leafs pick up a 6-2 victory back on New Year’s Eve. Toronto is once again listed as a home favorite on the moneyline tonight at -142, while the Avalanche are priced at +118. There’s a lot of positivity stemming from both these teams as they look to finish the regular season strong and head into the playoffs. 

Entering this matchup, the Avalanche have posted two straight victories and own a 6-3-1 record over their past ten games. On the other hand, the Maple Leafs are listed at 6-4 over the same sample size. 

Looking toward the projected goalie matchup tonight, the visiting Avalanche are expected to start Alexandar Georgiev, while the Maple Leafs should do the same with Ilya Samsonov. The Avalanche netminder has been solid in his first season with the club, posting a 29-14-5 record, paired with a .917 save percentage. Samsonov has also been strong in his debut season with the Maple Leafs, posting a 23-8-2 record, along with a .915 save percentage. 

Toronto has already demonstrated they can handle this Avalanche team, and they should have another advantage in this matchup tonight at home. After a lackluster effort against the Sabres earlier this week, expect the Maple Leafs to bounce back and get back in the win column tonight. Knowing that, targeting Toronto on the moneyline has some value in this matchup at -142. 

Best Bet: Maple Leafs moneyline (-142) 

There are a lot of similarities between how these teams operate. Both can score goals at a high clip and sit inside the top half of the league in goals scored per game. They’re even better defensively, though, with each side sitting inside the top ten in goals allowed per game. Over the Avalanche’s past five games, they’ve seen two of those contests tally seven or more goals scored, while the Maple Leafs have seen that transpire three times. With the earlier high-scoring matchup and recent trends, targeting the over 6.5 has some value tonight in this contest that’s worth targeting at -112. 

Best Bet: Over 6.5 (-112) 

It’s no secret that a lot of star power is present in this matchup tonight. You can make a good case for targeting multiple players on both teams, but the direction we ultimately decided to take revolved around Mitch Marner. The Maple Leafs’ highly skilled winger has continued to be the team’s top point-getter, tallying 85 points in 66 games. In addition, Marner leads the club with nine points over their past five games. With the consistency Marner has brought to the table, targeting him to light the lamp is a strong value play at +175. 

Best Prop: Mitch Marner to Record Over 0.5 Goals (+175)

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