Venue: Canadian Tire Centre.
Toronto lead Ottawa 5-3 in the season series. Will D.J. Smith’s team be able to close the gap in the final game of the regular season? We predict the Maple Leafs will be closer to success again.
Ottawa’s current form
Ottawa are closing out the current season magnificently. Yes, the main part of the regular season was very difficult for the Senators, because in the offseason they had a big rebuild of the lineup, but over time the players have gained the necessary chemistry and are now showing great results. D.J. Smith’s side have won eight of their last 11 meetings, which is the best result in the Northern Division at this juncture. That was just enough to drop out of the last place in the standings, but at least Ottawa now have faith in a bright future, which is especially important for them right now.
Toronto’s current form
Toronto are the winner of the North Division at the end of the regular season. Sheldon Keefe’s team had some problems in the course of the season and had several long losing streaks, but in the end, they were able to add to their form and played great last games, winning six games in seven games, which guaranteed them a local success. Now it is important for the Maple Leafs not to fall through in the playoffs, although their roster now looks surprisingly strong and capable. There are young prodigies, and old NHL stars, and those guys who will do difficult work.
Expert Betting Tips
Ottawa and Toronto approached the final stretch of the regular championship, staying in great shape. Both teams are now losing extremely rarely and show very confident hockey. In this case, it should be understood that the Maple Leafs are a much more skillful team, which should not lose to the league underdog before the start of the playoffs, even if there is a serious rotation. With this in mind, Toronto should win at odds of around 1.85.
Ottawa and Toronto have not solved any tournament problems for a long time, while for the Maple Leafs the upcoming game will be the penultimate before the start of the playoffs, and Senators will even go on holiday after this game. In that situation, there’s no reason to expect a high-scoring, entertaining encounter with plenty of goalscoring. Moreover, in the last four head-to-head encounters, the opponents scored 33 goals against each other (8.25 goals per game on average), which is a strong showing even for NHL teams, so we would expect Total Over 6.5 pucks for 2.20.
It’s hard to believe, but 41-year-old Joe Thornton continues his strong run of regular-season finishes. When he went a 17-game stretch without a point, it became clear that the decorated veteran’s career was effectively over, so he was moved from the first to the fourth tier and his playing time plummeted. In the last eight games, he has suddenly added to his game, scoring two goals and five assists, while leaving the ice only once in that time without a result. All of this suggests that Joe Thornton’s Total Over 0.5-point at around 1.95.
Other predictions
