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The Toronto Maple Leafs (16-9-2) and New Jersey Devils (18-10-2) tangle in a Tuesday night battle between second-place clubs. The opening puck drop at the Prudential Center in Newark will be at 7 p.m. (ESPN+). Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s NHL odds around the Maple Leafs vs. Devils odds and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
Season series: Toronto leads 1-0 with 4-2 road win on Oct. 10
Toronto lost just twice between Nov. 5-Dec. 4, but the Maple Leafs have equaled that number since. They are coming off Friday and Saturday setbacks. The most recent of those was a 5-2 loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. Despite its good overall record, the second-place squad in the Atlantic Division is just 4-5-2 on the road.
The Devils last played Sunday, getting shut out at home (4-0) by the Colorado Avalanche. The second-place club in the Metropolitan has had some troubles on home ice. The Devils are 1-3-0 across their last 4 contests in Newark and overall are 7-6-2 at home.
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Maple Leafs at Devils odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list of NHL odds. Lines last updated at 7 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Maple Leafs +114 (bet $100 to win $114) | Devils -137 (bet $137 to win $100)
- Puck line (PL)/Against the spread (ATS): Maple Leafs +1.5 (-220) | Devils -1.5 (+176)
- Over/Under (O/U): 6.5 (O: -102 | U: -118)
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Maple Leafs at Devils projected goalies
Joseph Woll (7-3-0, 2.20 GAA, .919 SV%) vs. Jacob Markstrom (13-6-1, 2.51 GAA, .907 SV%)
Woll started Saturday and allowed 3 goals at Pittsburgh (the Penguins scored 2 empty-net goals in the game’s final 40 seconds). The 26-year-old ranks 11th in Hockey-Reference.com’s goals saved above average, but he’ll be looking to atone for a rocky, 2-game .841 SV% logged against the Devils last season.
Markstrom last played Friday, stopping 17-of-19 against the Seattle Kraken. The veteran has contributed to some of New Jersey’s disappointments at home where he has registered an .875 SV%. He was the loser in the Oct. 10 meeting.
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Maple Leafs at Devils picks and predictions
Prediction
Devils 4, Maple Leafs 3
Moneyline
Toronto, which has won 8 in a row at New Jersey (last Devils home win in the series was April 5, 2018), has been outshot in 3 of its last 4 games. The Leafs have also been outperformed of late in special teams.
The Maple Leafs have yielded 13 goals over their last 3 road tilts and for the season have allowed 2.86 goals per game when playing on 2-day rest (vs. 2.63 GPG overall).
The Devils, who have not lost back-to-back games since October, have been cranking our solid puck-possession numbers, and they own a robust 39.5% conversion rate on power plays since Nov. 14. Even-strength analytics peg New Jersey as having more to give at both ends of the ice — scoring more and allowing less — and the Devils are the value side of this test on home ice.
TAKE NEW JERSEY (-137).
Puck line/Against the spread
No interest: PASS.
Over/Under
The Over is 4-1 across the last 5 games of the series.
The Maple Leafs have only played 4 road games since Nov. 13 and all 4 landed as Overs. Woll has only made 3 starts since Nov. 25, his fine numbers have some overall small-sample fade to them.
With the Devils power play being in high gear, the OVER 6.5 (-102) is the value side of this one.
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