A couple of the least-penalized teams in the league, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes take the ice at PNC Arena. This Eastern Conference matchup gets started at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 11, and it’s being shown live on The Sports Network.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Carolina Hurricanes Odds
Toronto (-135) is tabbed as the favorite over Carolina (+115), and the oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at 6 goals. If bettors want to play the matchup’s total, they’ll be looking at odds of -115 money on the over and -105 on the under.
Toronto is 20-10 straight up (SU) and has earned 3.9 units for moneyline bettors this year. 14 of its games have gone over the total, while 13 have gone under and just three have pushed. The Leafs are 11-4 SU as a road team in 2018-19.
Toronto has converted on 26.7 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a mark that’s good enough for sixth-best in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 13th overall, and it has successfully killed off 81.1 percent of its penalties.
For the team as a whole, Toronto has been penalized just 2.8 times per game during the 2018-19 season, and 4.0 per game over its last five match ups. The team’s been forced to kill penalties just 7.2 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Averaging 30.8 saves per game with a .926 save percentage, Frederik Andersen (16-8) has been the top option in goal for Toronto this year. If head coach Mike Babcock decides to rest him, however, Toronto could turn to Garret Sparks (4-3-1 record, .913 save percentage, 2.84 goals against average).
The visiting Maple Leafs have relied on Mitchell Marner and Morgan Rielly this season. Marner (40 points) is up to six goals and 34 assists, and has recorded multiple points in 13 different games. Rielly has nine goals and 23 assists to his credit (and has notched at least one point in 21 games).
Over on the other bench, Carolina is 13-15 straight up (SU) and has lost 8.2 units for moneyline bettors thus far. 19 of its games have gone under the total, while nine have gone over and none have pushed. This season, the team is 7-7 SU as the home team.
Carolina has converted on just 15.8 percent of its power play opportunities this season, a figure that’s ranked 26th in the NHL. On the other hand, its penalty kill is ranked 17th overall, and it’s successfully killed off 79.1 percent of all opponent power plays.
The Hurricanes have been penalized only 3.6 times per game this season, and 4.2 per game over their last five games. The team has had to defend opponent power plays just 7.8 minutes per game over their last 10 outings.
Curtis McElhinney (27.0 saves per game) has been the top selection in goal for Carolina. McElhinney has seven wins, four losses, and one overtime loss to his name and has recorded a 2.36 goals against average and a .920 save percentage this year.
Sebastian Aho (eight goals, 19 assists) will pace the offensive attack for Carolina.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Carolina Hurricanes Betting Predictions
Free NHL Pick: SU Winner \u2013 Hurricanes, O/U \u2013 Under
Betting Notes
- The total has gone under in four of Carolina’s last five outings.
- Toronto has managed 30.2 shot attempts per game over its last five road games while Carolina is averaging 34.8 shots per game over its last five home outings.
- Penalties and power plays could be even more critical than usual in the outcome of this game. The Maple Leafs are 7-5 in games where they serve fewer penalty minutes than their opponent and 17-9 when they serve fewer than 10 penalty minutes, in total. The Hurricanes are 5-8 when they serve fewer penalty minutes than the opposition and 9-12 when total penalty minutes are in the single digits.
- Carolina skaters have averaged 18.6 takeaways per game over its last five home games, an improvement over its season average of 11.3 takeaways per game (ranked 2nd in the league).
- Toronto is ranked fourth this season with 9.3 takeaways per game. That figure has trended upward recently, as the team has averaged 10.0 takeaways over its last 10 games and 9.8 takeaways over its last five.
