NHL Betting Odds: Toronto at Montreal
Looks like we might have a playoff race in the Eastern Conference after all. The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of several Eastern underachievers who are making a move up the standings, going 7-2-2 in February even while swapping talent for prospects and draft picks.
The Leafs are suddenly just six points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for eighth place in the East. Up next: Thursday night’s matchup with their oldest rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canadiens will be NHL betting favorites at home, but this is a great opportunity for Toronto to kick them while they’re down.
Bet on the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens at Bodog’s online sportsbook now!
Montreal (32-22-7 SU, 28-33 ATS, –6.31 units) may have finally run out of steam as we hit the three-quarter pole of the regular season.
The Habs have lost six of their last eight games (two by shootout), and they’ve lost another defenseman in Jaroslav Spacek, who could be out for the season with an undisclosed “lower-body” injury. Spacek (plus-8 in 57 games) would join fellow blueliners Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges in the press box as the Habs limp into the playoff stretch.
Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier responded to Spacek’s injury by trading a fifth-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Paul Mara, who played 43 games for the Habs last year with little impact (eight assists, minus-16). However, Mara did soak up 20:10 of ice time per game for the Ducks this season. He’s been paired with Roman Hamrlik; meanwhile, Montreal is leaning heavily on rookie P.K. Subban, who’s played 25:16 per game in February.
While Gauthier considers other moves in advance of Monday’s trade deadline, Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke willingly shipped out his two best defenders from last year, sending Tomas Kaberle (22 power-play assists in 58 games) to the Boston Bruins and Francois Beauchemin (23:45 ice time) to the Ducks.
These moves have given the Buds (26-27-7 SU, 23-37 ATS, –27.87 units) some much-needed value against the NHL odds. They’re still dead last in earnings against the Canadian line, but rookie defenseman Keith Aulie (6-foot-5, 217 pounds) has played well since his February call-up, and rookie goaltender James Reimer (.934 save percentage) is 9-4-2 since joining the parent club.
Unfortunately for the Leafs, Reimer wasn’t between the pipes the last time they faced the Canadiens. Jean-Sebastien Giguere (.899 SV%) wasn’t the goat by any means on February 12 when the Habs exploded for 39 shots on goal in a 3-0 victory at the Bell Centre. But this has still been a disappointing season for Giguere. He’s out until at least this weekend with a lingering groin injury, and Jonas Gustavsson (.890 SV%) is in the minors recovering from surgery to correct an accelerated heartbeat, so Reimer should get his first career start against the storied Habs on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ET).
As for the Habs, Carey Price (.920 SV%) got the shutout against the Leafs, and he also blanked them 2-0 at home on November 20. Toronto won both meetings with Montreal at the Air Canada Centre; the UNDER cashed in all four times, with the two power plays combining for just two goals in 27 opportunities.
The UNDER should continue to hold value in this matchup, especially if Alex Auld (.926 SV%) happens to get the nod for the Habs in what’s been a bounce-back season for the journeyman netminder.
It isn’t just behind the blueline where Montreal and Toronto have gotten thinner.
The Leafs sent winger Kris Versteeg (14 goals in 53 games) to the Philadelphia Flyers on Valentine’s Day for a pair of draft picks, taking another bite out of the Toronto power play.
And the Canadiens may have lost yet another player for the season when winger Mathieu Darche (nine goals in 51 games) suffered another one of those lower-body injuries – likely the groin, according to Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette.
These are already two of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL; Montreal is No. 25 overall at 2.54 goals per game, Toronto another three spots back at 2.47 goals.
With so few goals to go around, the Reimer-Price battle will be even more important for handicappers on Thursday.
A full list of NHL team and player props is being drawn up for this contest; the “First to 3 Goals” prop should get plenty of attention with neither team expected to light the lamp very often in what should be a smashmouth affair.
The playoffs are just around the corner.
Get all your NHL hockey odds at Bodog.