The Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night in Montreal in their fourth meeting this season. Montreal beat the Leafs 2-1 last Saturday and the Leafs won the previous two matchups this season.
- Date/Time: February 20, 7:00 p.m. ET
- Arena: Bell Centre
- TV Coverage: CBC
- Sportsbook Odds: Maple Leafs -108 | O/U 6.5 (Line History)
- Leafs vs Canadiens Matchup Report
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The game opened with the Leafs favored at -108 and the line has since shifted to between -107 and -115 depending on the sportsbook, with even odds in some spots. The total opened at 6.5 and is locked in at that number, with the UNDER favored in the -113 to -123 range.
Toronto News & Notes
If you are going to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs right now, you almost certainly must stop the top line of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Joe Thornton. Matthews is on an incredible pace with sixteen goals in seventeen games this season, and in his last thirteen games, he has only gone goal-less in the two games against the Canadiens.
And somehow, Matthews is not even the highest-scoring player on his team. Mitch Marner has 27 points in eighteen games – two more than Matthews’ 25 – ranking third in the league.
The team has been fantastic offensively, ranking fourth in the league in goals for percentage at even strength and ranking top four in overall scoring chances and high danger scoring chances at evens.
Montreal News & Notes
The Montreal Canadiens are one of the only teams that have outperformed the Leafs in several major stats. The Habs lead the league in scoring chances for percentage (they have created 55.30% of the total chances for either team in all their games) and are second in high danger chances for percentage.
However, in the last meeting between these teams, it was the Leafs who had more overall scoring chances (28-26), while the high danger scoring chances were even at eight apiece.
In net, star goalie Carey Price has had an up-and-down season as he sports a 5-2-2 record and .905 save percentage, but his best game of the year may have come in that last meeting with the Leafs as he made 21 saves in the win. Price will likely get the start Saturday night and is coming off a full week of rest.
Betting Pick: Leafs Moneyline -115
Though logic may dictate the full week off might help Habs goalie Carey Price, an aging veteran, it may also hurt the rest team who have now lost any momentum they picked up with the big win over Toronto last week. Meanwhile, the Leafs are coming off a blowout win over Ottawa and appear to be humming along on all cylinders.
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Buy Sports Picks Now- The UNDER has hit in 5 of Toronto's last 7 games.
- The Leafs are 2-5 SU in their last 7 games vs the Habs.
- The UNDER has hit in Montreal's last 5 games.
