Free NHL Hockey Prediction: Maple Leafs vs Senators Odds
Looking for Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators free hockey plays? NHL betting sees the Maples Leafs taking on the Senators on Wednesday October 12th at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON. Cappers Picks provides complimentary expert handicapping picks on all NHL Hockey matchups all season long so stay tuned for more FREE daily NHL hockey predictions.
(0-0) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators (0-0)
Stanley Cup Playoffs – Game 1
Date: Wednesday, October 12th
Time: 7:00 PM (EST)
Venue: Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON.
NHL Hockey Moneyline Odds: Ottawa -153
NHL Hockey Puck Line Odds: OFF
NHL Betting Total: 5.5
Live NHL Odds
Updated Sportsbook Bonuses For TodayClick here to view… NHL ATS Stats & Expert NHL Betting Insight!
The regular season will kick off with who else but the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are always the centre of the hockey universe but have yet to be good in my lifetime…which spans 30 years and counting.
The battle of Ontario will debut the 2016-17 season in Ottawa, with young stars aplenty fighting to keep the rivalry alive.
The number-1 overall pick from this summer’s draft, Austin Matthews, will make his big-league debut looking like the real deal, and will face-off against the newly acquired Derek Brassard and the Senators.
Toronto
As mentioned, Austin Matthews will be making his NHL debut in Ottawa, with huge hype surrounding this year’s top selection.
The much anticipated debut of Auston has Toronto fans buzzing, but the team still has a way to go to grow into a true contender, despite Matthews being considered a top-talent entering the league in the same breath as Jack Eichel, and slightly less so, Connor McDavid.
[dfads params=’groups=226&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
Adding to the hype was the off-season trade for Frederik Andersen from Anaheim, acquired to be their young #1 netminder to carry the torch going forward and stabilize the crease.
Andersen has had a solid start to his career thus far, but he doesn’t come over without any question marks.
He hasn’t stayed completely healthy during his career and has had the benefit of playing behind a strong Ducks team, so it will be interesting to watch if the young Leafs squad effects his overall performance.
Morgan Reilly leads the Leafs’ d-core, entering the year on a new significant contract and expecting to take another step forward in his development in becoming a star player.
Ottawa
Ottawa has a superstar defenseman who scores like a forward, in captain Erik Karlsson, who leads the Sens on and off the ice.
The Senators have a nice collection of young talent up front to compliment the scoring abilities of Karlsson, with Kyle Turris and the newly acquired Derek Brassard leading the way up the middle.
The two pivots are flanked by Mark Stone and Bobby Ryan as the top options on the wings, for a Sens’ team that ranked 9th in Goals For with 230 tallies a year ago.
[dfads params=’groups=234&limit=1&return_javascript=1′]
While Karlsson has all the abilities in the world on the offensive side of his game, he still has questionable defensive abilities. He leads a defensive unit that allowed a total of 241 goals a season ago, which ranked as the 5th worst mark in the entire league in 2015-16.
The crease will by once again be led by veteran Craig Anderson, with Andrew Hammond backing him up, who had an incredible start to his career coming out of nowhere, and owns a career .928 SV% after 49 appearances.
NHL Hockey Handicapping Trends
- Ottawa was 24-14-6 at the Canadian Tire Centre last season.
- Ottawa was a perfect 4-0 against Toronto last year.
Free Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators NHL Hockey Prediction
There’s going to be a lot of hype surrounding the debut of Auston Matthews, but he is only one person and cannot fix the numerous hole in the Leafs’ lineup on his own.
Andersen should help solidify a crease behind a pourous defense that had the 2nd-worst goal differential last season as -48 overall.
I expect the Sens to come out and earn Win #1 on home-ice in the season debut.
4* Free NHL Betting Pick: Over 5.5 goals.
While the Senators’ offense was strong last year, their defense ranked amongst the worst, allowing one more goal than the counterparts from Toronto.
I think the offense of the Leafs should be improved from a year ago, led the way by Matthews and a healthy James van Reimsdyk (at least so far…).
The battle of the Andersen/sons in the crease is between two solid goalies but each playing behind shaky defensive corps.
I like an over here.
NHL Free Game 3 Score Prediction: Toronto 3 – Ottawa 4
If you’re looking for more picks like this Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators matchup we’ll be providing 4* free NHL predictions on the blog during the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs, and check out our Experts for guaranteed premium & free NHL Hockey picks!
CappersPicks.com has Stanley Cup odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NHL lines up for early games as well.