Face-off: 1900 ET, 05/03/2022
Arena: Scotiabank Arena
Toronto will be looking to make a statement and respond to their disappointing 5-1 home defeat by Buffalo when entertaining in-form Vancouver.
The Maple Leafs are in a tough battle with Florida and Tampa Bay for top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Vancouver have been a different team since Bruce Boudreau took charge and the Canucks sit four points out of a wildcard spot.
However, they could feel the backlash of their hosts’ blip versus the Sabres and 6.5 for a home win by two goals is the first of our Toronto Maple Leafs vs Vancouver Canucks predictions.
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Toronto Maple Leafs Odds
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe is looking for a better response from his team after the poor performance against Buffalo.
Keefe was pretty dismissive of his team’s display and simply said: “Terrible from start to finish.”
He added: “Our team has been playing well. We had every reason to believe our team was ready to play.
“Our fans were back, we should have confidence in the way we’ve played here of late, but just not good from the start.
“I liked how we defended in the first period, I thought we did a good job of that, but offensively, how we played with the puck, we were really careless.
“Offensively, we were abysmal, all four lines.”
Admittedly, the Maple Leafs may start this contest cautiously after that setback, so 3.5 for Vancouver to win the first period could be worth a saver from the NHL odds.
Toronto had previously completed a hat-trick of wins, though, with 18 goals netted versus Washington, Detroit and Minnesota.
Vancouver Canucks Odds
The Canucks have won four of their last five games and are 7-3-0 over the past 10, so they do have plenty of momentum.
Vancouver trailed twice against the New York Islanders but held their nerve and rallied for a 4-3 success.
Boudreau has full confidence in his team and said: “On the bench, there was never a question of doubt.
“There was never any, ‘Oh, woe is me,’ it was like, ‘OK boys, let’s keep pushing,’ because we knew in the first two periods we had a lot of opportunities.”
The Canucks have been involved in a series of high-scoring games, with their last seven fixtures all producing seven goals or more.
However, we’re sticking with 2.65 for a Toronto win and over 6.5 total strikes in our Maple Leafs vs Canucks predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
TORONTO 1-5 Buffalo
NY Islanders 3-4 VANCOUVER
Season head-to-head: Vancouver 3-2 Toronto
