In their first of three head-to-head meetings this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals take the ice at Capital One Arena. This Eastern Conference matchup gets going at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 16, and it’ll air live on NBC Sports Washington.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Washington Capitals Odds
Toronto is 4-3 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.0 unit for moneyline bettors thus far. That winning percentage, the third-best in the Atlantic Division so far this season, is a drop-off from the 46-36 record that the team posted during last year’s regular season campaign. Four of its games have gone over the total, while two have gone under. The Leafs are 2-0 SU as the road team in 2019-20.
Toronto has scored on 28.0 percent of its power play opportunities thus far. That’s a good improvement from last year, when it was ranked 11th in the league by scoring on 20.9 percent of its extra-man chances. Its penalty kill has also gotten stronger year-over-year, as the team’s gone from successfully defending 78.5 percent of all opponent power plays (ranked 25th overall last season) to 81.0 percent this year.
Toronto, as a collective unit, has been penalized 3.3 times per game this season. Last year, that figure was the best mark in the league at 2.7 penalties per game. After serving an average of 6.1 penalty minutes per game a season ago the team’s been forced to kill penalties for 6.6 minutes per outing this year.
Sporting a .893 save percentage and 25.2 saves per game, Frederik Andersen (4-2) has been the primary option in goal for Toronto this year. Andersen did just play last night, however, so head coach Mike Babcock could choose to rest him and instead turn to Michael Hutchinson (0-2-1 record, .894 save percentage, 3.85 goals against average).
The visiting Maple Leafs have relied heavily on Mitchell Marner and Morgan Rielly this year. Marner has nine points on three goals and six assists this season; Rielly has zero goal and nine assists to his credit through the early stages of the regular season.
Over on the other bench, Washington is 3-4 straight up (SU) and has lost 1.5 units for moneyline bettors this year. Through seven regular season outings, four of its games have gone under the total, while three have gone over and none have pushed. This season, the team is 0-3 SU as the home team.
Washington has scored on 22.2 percent of its power plays this year after converting on 21.2 percent (ranked ninth in league) last season. It has killed off a remarkable 84.0 percent of all penalties, a few points higher than the 79.7 percent the team recorded a year ago (when it was ranked 19th overall).
Washington skaters have been called for penalties 4.1 times per game this season. Last year, that number was at 3.8, the sixth-highest mark in the league. After serving an average of 9.0 penalty minutes per game a year ago, the team’s been forced to stave off opponent power plays for 9.9 minutes per matchup this season.
Braden Holtby has denied 19.8 shots per game as the top netminder in goal for Washington. Holtby has one win, four losses, and two overtime losses to his credit and has registered a mediocre 4.27 goals against average and a poor .846 save percentage this year.
The Caps offense will be led by John Carlson (two goals, nine assists).
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals Betting Predictions
NHL Prediction: SU Winner – Capitals, O/U – Under
Betting Trends
- After earning a 0-2 record in games decided by a shootout last year, Toronto is off to a 0-1 start in shootouts this season. Washington was 4-1 in shootouts last year and has yet to participate in one this time around.
- For both of these clubs, the total has gone over in three of their past five matches.
- Toronto skaters registered 18.8 hits per game last season, while the Capitals posted 24.2 hits per contest.
