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The Florida Panthers, mired in a losing streak that could cost them the playoffs, stay north of the border, and visit the Toronto Maple Leafs. It is time to continue our NHL odds series with a Panthers-Maple Leafs pick, prediction, and how-to-watch.
The four-game losing streak for the Panthers has put them in a situation where they find themselves outside the playoff picture. They are three points behind the Penguins with only eight games left to play. Florida is playing their second of three straight games in Canada, before heading to Columbus, and then home. Toronto is nearing locking into their second seed from the Atlantic division. They cannot catch the Bruins and sit five points in front of Tampa Bay. The Lightning only has seven games left to make up that ground, and a win tonight would make it increasingly difficult for Tampa to catch them a steal home ice in the first round.
Here are the Panthers-Maple Leafs NHL odds, courtesy of FanDuel
Florida Panthers: +1.5 (-172)
Toronto Maple Leafs: -1.5 (+142)
Over: 7.5 (+138)
Under: 7.5 (-170)
TV: SN / ESPN+
Stream: NHLPP / ESPN+
Time: 7:00 PM ET/ 4:00 PM PT
*Watch NHL games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Florida comes in off the loss to Ottawa after letting in a power-play goal from Alex DeBrincat, and Brady Tkachuk scored and get an assist. Matthew Tkachuck’s little brother got the best of him on Monday night, but that is not for Matthew not trying. He did manage five shots on goal. The Panthers are still doing the right things to get wins. They are outshooting their opponents in nine of the last ten. They are controlling the offensive zone, and they are creating chances.
Against Ottawa, it was the penalty kill that let them down. They let in three power-play goals in four chances against the Senators, after performing generally well in the ten games beforehand. This is not the first time the penalty kill has had trouble this year, as they just recently had a stretch of games in which they gave up power-play goals in nine straight games from the end of February to the start of March. On the season, Florida is bottom five in the league in penalty kill, and have to find a fix for that to win tonight.
Sergei Bobrovsky also struggled in the game. He gave up four goals on 26 shots, with a .846 save percentage on the loss. The up-and-down Bobrovsky was down again. His goals-against average for March is still at just 3.09 goals per game, but his last three games have been ones to forget. He needs to find that form from the early part of the month, where he let in just seven goals in four games and got three wins if Florida is going to win tonight.
Toronto is starting to get to a very comfortable point for the end of their season. They cannot catch Boston and know that most likely they will be visiting them if they make it to the second round of the playoffs. They would like to get home ice for the first round as they are tied for the second-best home record in the NHL with Tampa Bay. The Maple Leafs have a good lead on them for this late in the season and are moving towards clinching that second seed in the Atlantic division. Consequently, a win tonight would go a long way in finalizing their being in that spot.
Firstly, Toronto would love a repeat of their last performance. In the game against Nashville, they outshot the Predators 34-25. They also scored twice on the power play and won the faceoff battle handily. John Tavares led the way for the Maple Leafs. He scored both of the power-play goals, being set up by Matthews on both of them as well. The team leader in assists, Michell Marner, also grabbed an assist in the win over Nashville.
Secondly, Toronto would love to repeat its performance from the game against Florida on the 23rd of March. That game was in Florida, and Toronto was dominant on offense. While they were outshot 27-35, they scored six goals. Auston Matthews had two goals, and team leader William Nylander had one as well. They scored on the power play with Tavares and Nylander setting up Michael Bunting. They were able to beat Bobrovsky with ease, and goalie Matt Murray had a save percentage of .943. A repeat of any of those two performances will get Toronto a win.
Florida is nearing must-win territory, but they have not shown it can execute. Penalties will decide this game. Florida can not give up man-advantage situations to Toronto. Toronto is the third-best team in the NHL on the man advantage, and Florida is one of the worst on the penalty kill. Sadly for Flordia fans, they have the third most penalty minutes in the NHL, and that continues tonight. Toronto scores a few more on the power play and a repeat of less than a week ago is found.
Final Panthers-Maple Leafs Prediction & Pick: Maple Leafs -1.5 (+142)
The post NHL Odds: Panthers vs. Maple Leafs prediction, pick, how to watch – 3/29/2023 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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